Turnabout Persona
by WesPerry
Summary: When students from Gekkoukan & Yasogami High visit Themis Legal Academy, Shinjiro & Kanji are both framed for a crime they didn't do. Their friends help investigate the case and team up with the two proteges of a famous Ace Attorney to help defend them. Will the truth be found out or be lost to the Dark Age of the Law? Spoilers for Persona 3, Persona 4, & the Ace Attorney series.
1. Getting to the Legal World

**First off, I want to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this. Secondly don't be afraid to give your honest thoughts and criticisms as I do want to improve as a writer. Thirdly, something to keep in mind is this is slightly a bit of an alternate universe, since the timeline events of Persona 3, Persona 4, and the Ace Attorney series take place at different times, but all characters will be in character for the most part. Fourthly, I do intend to finish this story as I have already worked out the plot, so hopefully this story will finish. Finally... just have fun and enjoy reading!**

**All characters, locations, content, etc belong to their respective creators. All Persona related content to Atlus, and all Ace Attorney related content for Capcom.**

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><p>Themis Legal Academy, a prestigious high school with alumni in the highest echelons of the legal world. Of course it was hard to say that now a days considering the current state of the legal system. It was currently known as the "Dark Age of the Law," due to two very significant events that occurred several years in the past. An age where it was said that lawyers or prosecutors would do anything to attain victory by any means necessary. Most recently a case had occurred last month that revealed one of the professors at the school was accepting bribes from parents to boost grades for their attending students, and was also found to have murdered a fellow professor for finding out the truth. This same professor was known for purporting the motto of "The end justify the means," which was fitting for this current dark age of the law. A young defense attorney girl and a slightly older lawyer who served as her assistant, found the truth out while defending one of the students who was framed for the crime. The female defense attorney took the case, due to the suspect being a close childhood friend of hers who attended Themis Legal Academy. This whole incident took place while the school was having it's annual festival for the students and staff. While the school did celebrate some of it's festival right after the incident was resolved, some events from the festival did not properly occur and did not end up happening.<p>

We convene on a Sunday of November 2nd, in the office of the current chief prosecutors on the 12th floor of the High Prosecutor's Office in Room 1202 in Los Angeles. The office had the entire left side filled with cabinets with files on various cases and data. It had so much, a step ladder placed against one of the cabinets. Near the exit (which also served as the entrance into the room) was a chessboard which had red and blue pieces, atop red and white tiles. Opposite the cabinets was some cabinets were and they held memorabilia such as an award the current chief prosecutor once received as well as what appeared to be a statue of a samurai with a tag attached to it saying, "Wendy," that looked rather polished, and above it hung a frame containing a coat, a certain prosecutor used to wear back in his earliest days of prosecuting. The back of the room had a window which had about a 50 meter view above the rest of the city. The middle of the room had a rectangular polished mahogany office table. Near the entrance was a coffee table in between two red leather couches.

Two people were currently sitting across from each other, through the coffee table, as each sat opposite of the other on each couch. One wore a blue office coat, a red tie and a white office vest and with white office shirts underneath, blue office pants, brown office shoes, a golden locket with a chain in his upper left pocked on his blue office coat, his defense attorney badge pinned to to upper left collar of his suit, blue eyes and had black spiky hair. He was Phoenix Wright. A famous defense attorney known for his crazy but truthful turnabouts in the legal world. Someone who was known for usually being on the ends of his ropes, but somehow turns it around to reveal the truth. He currently ran his own agency and had two young lawyer proteges working under him. Needless to say, Phoenix has had a lot of crazy experiences so far in his lifetime.

The other man wore a red office coat, a white cravat around his neck, a black vest and white office shirts underneath the red office coat, red office pants, black office shoes, glasses, and oddly enough, silver colored like hair. He was Miles Edgeworth. Before becoming the current chief prosecutor, he used to face off against Phoenix in court. Edgeworth used to harbor an intense hatred for criminals and would do his best to get the guilty verdict no matter what the case (though he had never been willing to fight dirty with methods such as falsified evidence and always fought fairly) and would use his impressive logic and aggression in court to win those guilty verdicts. However Phoenix's victories over Edgeworth had convinced him that the truth was what they should both be ultimately be striving for, leading to the more humble man we see today, who is currently the chief prosecutor.

"So why exactly did you call me to your office, Edgeworth?" Phoenix asked, concerned for what warranted such a thing.

"Wright... you are aware of the incident that occurred in Themis Legal Academy last month, correct?" Edgeworth asked seriously. Phoenix nodded, though he wasn't exactly sure where Edgeworth was going with this. "You see, now that Professor Means is gone due to his crime, the school is looking for a replacement professor for legal defense."

"A replacement professor for legal defense?" Phoenix asked starting to see where this is going. "Are you... are you asking me to become a professor for Themis Legal Academy?"

"Yes I am," Edgeworth stated bluntly. Phoenix looked surprised for a moment, shocked at what he just heard. He then sighed, unsure of what to think.

"I don't know Edgeworth. Shouldn't they have substitutes or other professors who can handle that stuff?" Phoenix replied.

"I do understand your concern. They have told me that while it's true that they did find a short hand substitute at the moment to fill that role, they feel having you teach there would be a huge boost to the academy for various reasons. Due to the current dark age of the law, having someone as renowned as you serve there, would be seen as a beacon of hope. And don't worry, everyone knows how you were falsely disbarred due to the real truth having finally being revealed last year, behind that disbarring incident long ago. " Edgeworth explained.

"I don't know about that. That incident at the original time, is considered one of the reasons why the dark age of the law is even considered a thing," Phoenix explained back. "Sure it was revealed last year, who was really responsible for that, and I finally have my attorney's badge back, but... what about the other incident responsible for the dark age of the law you asked me to look into?"

"Ah yes. I know very well what you're referring to. Well this would not be immediate. Of course revealing the truth behind that incident takes precedence. Themis Legal Academy would have you start teaching whenever you choose to be ready. " Edgeworth explained.

"But I don't even have the requirements to teach though, so wouldn't that be a problem?" Phoenix asked, confused.

"The academy, and as well as me are aware you are currently not in possession of a teaching degree and the certifications to teach as well. They have however told me, they are willing to fund for your education to pursue a degree for teaching if you do decide to teach there." Edgeworth explained back. Phoenix still looked unsure as he pondered the situation.

"I still don't know Edgeworth. I kind of have my hands full with my agency at the moment. People still hire me for cases. I just had my first one this year during the summer when I finally got my attorney's badge back in the beginning of the year. The incident at the Shipshape Aquarium if you might recall. Can I really afford the time to teach if people still want me to defend?" Phoenix replied back.

"I understand that as well. Keep in mind this is all ultimately up to you. But from a personal point of view, I feel you would be a excellent professor, as the legal world currently needs someone to help guide the younger generation, to understand that attaining the truth is more important then simply having results. Don't you have Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes working under you? You need to pass the torch at some point to them after all, as well as the younger generation in general. That reminds me, how are Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes doing?" Edgeworth replied.

"Hmm... maybe you're right. Maybe I do need to pass the torch to them at some point, as well as by teaching the new generation," Phoenix considered. "As for Apollo and Athena, I gave them time off due to their success at their last trial. They're in San Francisco having fun and staying at a hotel. Though those two better be back later this week though,"

"I see. Good to know Wright. One more thing I need to bring up in regards to this, are you available for the rest of this whole week?" Edgeworth asked. Phoenix nodded. "Themis Legal Academy is planning to hold the rest of it's school festival this Friday, due to the incident last month causing not all of it to occur. They want you to come make another speech for it. They also want you to come by tomorrow afternoon around 1PM to discuss with them these details as well. I can pick you up with my sports car and we can both head there. The school's board of education along with myself wants to continue discussing this with you in more detail. Would you be available to come this week?"

"Really? Sure. I have no problems with this," Phoenix replied. "By the way, what's the school festival event on Friday suppose to be?"

"Themis Legal Academy also invites select schools from all over to participate, to offer their students a chance to focus on a legal career if they so desire. This isn't just for students in the United States as Themis Legal Academy also invites students from abroad as well depending on the schools who accept to go to their festival," Edgeworth explained.

"That's cool. What schools participated this year?" Phoenix asked.

"From what I understand, a majority of the schools who were planning to have students visit, dropped out of visiting for this year's festival due to the incident last month, but two schools in Japan are still having students visit abroad for Friday's event. One school is named Gekkoukan High, and the other is Yasogami High. Their students should actually be arriving tomorrow and will be staying at the Gatewater Hotel very close to the school and staying for the week in general," Edgeworth explained. Phoenix however could not help but raise his eyebrows at what he heard.

"Schools in Japan? But how do their students and staff communicate with the people over here? Language barrier and all?" Phoenix asked confused. Edgeworth took out something from one of his coat pockets to show to Phoenix. It was what appeared to be a small white earpiece.

"These are special translation earpieces that are provided for all students and staff. Both our English speakers and the Japanese speakers will be perfectly able to understand each other with no issues whatsoever. You of course will be provided with one tomorrow when you visit. Anyway I think that about wraps up our discussion. Is their any other questions you have Wright?" Edgeworth replied.

"No. I think that about covers it. I'll see you tomorrow Edgeworth," Phoenix said as he got up from the couch he was sitting on. The two men gave each other a friendly smile and handshake, before Phoenix left the office and the building, to head back home to go over all the details he had just discussed.

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><p>It was now November 3rd around 12:45 PM in the afternoon, and two buses were traveling along the highways of California, en route to Themis Legal Academy. We'll start by taking a look at the bus in the front and the occupants inside. Multiple students were wearing black uniforms that had a symbol of a red ring around four ninety degree tiles that were white and black. Some students had their variances but still had a uniform of some sort. It had an interesting bunch whether it be the student council treasurer, a really strict and uptight disciplinary committee member, a certain guy who had the hots for his teach Ms. Kanou, the female manager of a sports club, a student who transferred from France to Japan to attend this school, and so on and so forth. We'll be focusing on several particular students though.<p>

One student wore a pink sweater jacket that still branded the school logo, a loose red ribbon around the neckline, a black mini skirt, black stockings with white lines and brown shoes, a heart shaped choker, and finally what appeared to be a red armband on her left arms entitled with the following, "S.E.E.S," that stood for a title of a club she was part of. She had light brown hair, brown eyes, and was in general very pretty. She was Yukari Takeba. A junior at her high school who was known for having a caring but no nonsense attitude at the same time. She was part of the archery club as well as being part of SEES as well. She was currently rolling her eyes at what she was hearing from the person sitting next to her.

"Junpei are you for real?" she asked with annoyance present in her voice. The boy sitting next to her had the biggest cockiest grin ever along with gray eyes and a goatee. He wore a dark blue baseball cap over his black buzz cut hair, a silver necklace, a dark blue collared shirt underneath his uniform, a silver chain attached to his black pants along with a black belt, and black shoes. He finally wore the same red armband on his left arm that Yukari had as well. He was Junpei Iori. A laid back friendly guy, who was also a bit of a slacker when it came to his school work. He was a junior like Yukari as well. Junpei really loved baseball, though he wasn't in any clubs at his school except for SEES as well. He was currently engaged in a conversation with his friend Yukari, as both were known to have their arguments and comical comments together.

"For sure Yuka-tan," Junpei said using his nickname for her. "I can't wait to get to Themis Legal Academy where all the lawyer, judge, and prosecutor chicks are. They can object to me any day!" he said raising his fists into the air. Yukari rolled her eyes even more and sighed.

"I trade Aigis for you, if she weren't back guarding the dorm while we're gone. Mitsuru-san! Can we trade seats?" she said. In another aisle on the bus, sat a long dark red haired girl, sitting between two boys she knew personally. She sighed herself and shook her head for a no. The dark red haired girl had red eyes, a white blouse with a big red ribbon near the neckline, a black skirt, and black high heeled boots. Like Junpei and Yukari, she too had the same red armband on her left arm. She was Mitsuru Kirijo. She knew some French and already knew some English, as she liked to learn about other cultures. She a senior, was known to be a hard worker, and very caring person as well. She was student council president and was also part of the school's fencing team, and once again, part of SEES like the two others.

"Sorry Takeba. But I think it's better we stay seated right where we are. I'm sitting here to make sure Akihiko and Shinjiro don't have their ridiculous quarrels they have sometimes," she replied back. The boy to the left of her, rolled his eyes. He had short silver hair, gray eyes with a small white band-aid above his left one, and pale skin. Instead of wearing the traditional black jacket uniform, he wore a red sweater vest, he wore black leather gloves, black pants, that same red armband on his left arm like everyone else mentioned so far and finally black shoes. He was Akihiko Sanada. A senior like Mitsuru, he was a friendly guy who loved to be challenged, and craved competition. He worked out a ton, and kept up in tip top shape with his love for protein shakes. He was part of the school's boxing team as well as SEES.

"Was that necessary Mitsuru?" he whined. Before she could reply, the person to the right of her just chuckled at what he just heard. This guy had messy brown hair, under his black beanie, sharp intimidating gray eyes, a maroon pea-coat, black pants, brown Chelsea shoes, and that same red SEES armband on his left arm. He was a senior like Mitsuru and Akihiko, though unlike them, he rarely attended school for personal reasons. He had this tough guy aura around him, but had you gotten to know him, he was actually fairly friendly, though he always kept that tough smirk on his face and was rarely without it. He also liked to cook and was really good at it. He wasn't in any other clubs other then SEES.

"For you Aki? Definitely," Shinjiro replied. Akihiko was about to raise his voice before Mitsuru glared at both of them, causing them to back down. Yukari sighed at the sight.

"What about you Makoto and Fuuka? Can I switch seats with-" but she stopped talking as she turned her head to face them. The two were at the back of the bus and both were sleeping against their seat. One person had dark blue hair, that same red armband on his left arm, the Gekkoukan uniform of black jackets and pants with their school's symbol, with the addition of a black bow tie near his neckline. He also was wearing special headphones that the girl sleeping next to him made for him, connected to his MP3 player which was currently playing a quiet piano tune. He was Makoto Yuki. He was a junior at Gekkoukan High like Yukari and Junpei. He was known to be very socially active, hanging out with many people in and out of the school for various reasons. He was a part of many clubs, and SEES was no exception. He was currently asleep as the plane ride the previous day, and the bus ride they were in now, made him feel tired.

The other person who was sleeping next to Makoto, was a girl with short teal-blue like hair and dark brown eyes. She wore her Gekkoukan High uniform, and she also wore a teal-blue turtleneck that has flower patterns, a black skirt, white stockings, red armband on her left arm and brown shoes. She was Fuuka Yamagishi. She was a very kind, caring, and sensitive girl, who would do anything to make people happy. Unfortunately her kind nature has had her be bullied by others. She was no longer bullied when she joined SEES due to her becoming friends with those who had done so, or being defended from the other members of SEES. Besides SEES, she participated in the cooking club time to time, though her skills were lacking at the moment. All of these members lived together at the Iwatodai Dorm during their time at high school so far.

Yukari just sighed. She didn't want to disturb the two who were sleeping. "Ugh. Guess I'm stuck with you Junpei," she whined.

"Hey! I resent that!" Junpei complained. Yukari rolled her eyes once more.

"Yeah whatever." as she then tried to change the subject. "I wonder how Ken is doing, taking care of Koromaru back home?"

"He'll be fine. Koromaru will be fine too," Shinjiro answered for her. Before she could reply, the teacher chaperone who was watching them all, signaled for silence.

"Alright class. We'll be arriving shortly. Make sure to wear all your translation headpieces so we can understand everyone over here," she said. She was Ms. Toriumi and taught composition at Gekkoukan High. She had short light brown hair that reached to her neck, gray eyes, white turtleneck collar shirt, a dark pink like office jacket, dark pink pants, and black high heel shoes. She also served as the homeroom teacher for Makoto, Yukari, and Junpei besides teaching composition. She was serving as the chaperone for this whole trip as well at the moment. She was honestly uneasy of the decision to have Gekkoukan's students visit Themis Legal Academy after last month's incident. She knew that in the meeting she was in, all the money allocated for this trip was already spent and could not be refunded, but she still wondered if this was really the safest thing to do. She was also told to not talk about this incident with the students to not cause worry to them, as well.

"Also I like to give Shinjiro thanks for making us all bento boxes for this trip. Mr. Aragaki is an excellent chef," she praised, as they all brought lunches made by Shinjiro for the week. Some clapped, some didn't, Shinjiro just shrugged not caring if he were praised or not.

"Ms. Toriumi, the festival is on Friday right?" Yukari asked. Ms. Toriumi breaking out of her thoughts, nodded to Yukari. Soon she, as well as everyone but Makoto and Fuuka put on their translation earpieces.

"Of course those two sleepy heads be... sleeping," Junpei mumbled, realizing what he said felt a bit redundant.

"When we get there, we'll just wake them up" Akihiko said, not seeing any issues.

"Yeah it's no biggie. Let's see if this place is all it's cracked up to be," Shinjiro added.

"Indeed. I'm looking forward to Themis Legal Academy and what it has to offer," Mitsuru said. The buses were almost at their destination and they would soon depart.

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><p>Before we move on, let's rewind a bit and focus on what was happening on the bus behind this one. This other bus was carrying the students and staff of Yasogami High. They all wore black uniforms similar to Gekkoukan's but had a different symbol and style. The symbol was of three white rings surrounding what appeared to be a white stylized Y, connected to the innermost ring. Just like Gekkoukan's school, Yasogami had it's fair share of unique students as well. Whether it be a real shy girt who played in the band, two sports competitive sports friends who had drama occasionally occur, a girl in drama with major father issues, and so on and so forth. Just like before, we'll be focusing on a select bunch of students.<p>

One student was currently sitting in between two females he knew personally. He had a brownish orange like hair, a black uniform that was buttoned, black uniform pants, white sneakers, a white shirt underneath with a red v-neck with long sleeves, and finally a pair of red headphones he wore around his neck usually. He was Yosuke Hanamura. A friendly guy who worked at his parent's department store back at home. He was both clever and incompetent as contradicting as that would sound, as he would come up with various ideas that were very hit or miss. He was a junior at Yasogami High and in his spare time was a part of a different group that was known to investigate things.

"Themis Legal Academy huh? I wonder how it is over there," he mumbled.

"I think it'll be fun! The chance to meet and see new people is always welcome in my book," said the girl sitting to the right of him. She had light brown, bowl shaped hair, and brown eyes. She wore a altered Yasogami High uniform that was a light green high collared athletic jacket, she had three pins stuck to the upper left of her jacket (one was a yellow smiley face, one other was balloon shaped with blue stars imprinted on it, and one looked like multicolored rings), a black shirt with black mini shorts right underneath it, short white stockings and black shoes. She was Chie Satonaka. She was an energetic girl who was into things like martial arts, and had a big appetite for food like steak. She had a bright and uplifting personality and was normally pretty friendly. Like Yosuke, Chie liked to investigate certain things like him as well.

"You think so as well Chie? I think it's interesting to get to travel in general outside of Japan for once," said the girl sitting to the right of Yosuke. She had long straight black hair, that was kept neat with a red hairband, long eyelashes and black eyes. She wore a red sweater over her Yasogami High uniform, a black skirt, opaque black pantyhose, and black shoes. She was Yukiko Amagi. She was friendly but had a shy personality, and was a junior at Yasogami High like Yosuke and Chie. She would also have moments where she would spontaneously laugh at the most random things as well. Back home she also helped run her family's inn from time to time, and was also to take over running it in the future. She would help Chie and Yosuke in her free time in their investigations, from time to time as well.

"It's really fun! That was one of the things I miss about being an idol," said another girl in another aisle. She was sitting between a boy to her left and another girl to her right. She had brownish red hair tied in two pigtails, wore the black school uniform that had a yellow ribbon tied near the neckline, black skirts, black pantyhose, and black shoes. She was Rise Kujikawa. A sophomore at Yasogami High who used to be a former Japanese idol star who had decided to take a break earlier this year. She was kind, but had a blunt personality that was very straight to the point. She was the type of person, who wasn't afraid to show how she felt if she felt it. She too, was part of the investigations that would occur whenever she was free from working at her grandmother's tofu shop.

"I suppose it'll be interesting to see how the legal system over here is different from ours," the girl sitting next to the boy, who sat next to Rise said. She wore the black Yasogami High uniform, black pants, dark blue shoes, and a blue detective cap. She had short blue hair, blue eyes, and her appearance and build made her appear very androgynous, making people mistake her for a boy had you not known she was girl. Her name was Naoto Shirogane. She was a sophomore like Rise, but was very mature and wise for her age. Her family was known for being detectives throughout the generations and she was no exception. For her, investigating came naturally as she chose to help others investigate certain matters at times. "What about you Kanji? How do you feel about going to this trip?"

The boy sitting next to her immediately blushed. He wore his Yasogami High jacket around his shoulders, a black sweater with a skull and crossbones symbol on it, black pants, brown shoes, and had bleached blonde hair. He was Kanji Tatsumi. He was known for being a tough guy due to beating up a biker gang that was making trouble in the Inaba neighborhood, which he did due to them disturbing his mother. Similar to Shiinjiro, Kanji portrayed a tough guy act, but unlike him had way more moments of being comical and was more laid back in general in comparison. A sophomore at Yasogami High, though he used to skip classes a lot. He helped with his friend's investigations whenever he was free as well. To the rest of his friends, they had known he had a huge crush on Naoto, (and were surprised the detective did not detect that yet) and would usually get flustered around her. "This trip... it's alright so far? Umm... hey Yu-sempai!" he replied trying to take the attention away from him. "What do you think of this trip?"

We take a look at another student who was sitting in the back by himself, just looking out the window. He had pale skin, gray eyes, had a silver colored and bowl shaped hair, wore the Yagogami High Jacket with the buttons opened, as it revealed the white shirt he wore underneath it, black pants, and brown shoes. He was Yu Narukami. He was a junior at Yasogami High, and has moved in earlier to the town of Inaba earlier this year. Like Makoto from Gekkoukan High, he was a very social person as well. He met a lot of unique individuals both in and outside the school. He also served as the leader of the investigation team, that both he and friends were apart of. He lived with his uncle and cousin for the current year, before he was going to move back in the city sometime in the future.

"I think it'll be an interesting experience. Visiting another country in of itself, is pretty interesting, " Yu replied back. Kanji just nodded. Naoto however wasn't satisfied as she wanted to hear the answer from Kanji himself, and he once again tried to not answer her.

"Hey Kanji. Why don't you just actually answer Naoto's question?" Yosuke said in a mocking tone. The older student loved teasing Kanji whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"Shut up! Don't get involved," Kanji replied annoyed.

"Why? You clearly won't," Yosuke said. Kanji was miffed. He reached down in one of his pants pockets and pulled out a box of animal crackers. He took a animal cracker out and was going to throw it at Yosuke. However at that very moment, the bus bounced as it hit a small pothole on the road, causing Kanji to hit someone else with the animal cracker instead. The person he hit was wearing the black school Yasogami High uniform that a orange and green knights crest symbol sewed onto the upper left part of the jacket. He had black hair that parted a bit in the middle, droopy eyes, a beauty mark under his left eye, ashen complexion for his skin tone, big lips, eyes with barely visible pupils, and had a negative expression worn on his face. He turned to face Kanji with a glare.

"Sorry dude. That animal cracker wasn't for you?" Kanji said sheepishly as he tried to explain that he meant it for Yosuke. The boy just kept on glaring at Kanji. Before Kanji could say anything more, a loud yell was heard in the air from the front of the bus.

"**TATSUMI!** I saw that you stinking punk!" yelled Mr. Morooka. A teacher at Yasogami High who was known for his nasty attitude. He wore a dark blue office jacket with white stripes on it, a white office shirt underneath with a yellow and brown checkered tie, dark blue office pants that also had white stripes, white socks and brown shoes. This middle aged man had straight black hair in a bob cut that was slowly but surely turning gray, hazel eyes, and big noticeable buck teeth. He was known for having great disdain for the current teenager lifestyle and was very judgmental. He was also the homeroom teacher for Yu, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko. Like Ms. Toriumi, he was serving as the chaperone for this trip. Like Gekkoukan High, Yasogami High had already spent all it's budget on this trip and could not refund the money. He was also told to not talk about the incident that occurred last month, but he was more interested in getting the chance to travel if anything.

"But King Mo... I mean Mr. Morooka!" Kanji said, catching himself before he said King Moron which was a insult, that many students in the school called him. "I... err.. didn't mean to... hit that guy?"

"You threw the damn animal cracker and hit someone, did you not?" Mr. Morooka questioned. Kanji now had a really big embarrassed smile on his face as he reluctantly nodded. "Good. Case closed. After we all get back from this trip, I'll be sure to tell your homeroom teacher to give you detention for two weeks!"

Kanji just sighed out of frustration and turned to look toward Yosuke. "I wish King Moron would never bother me again. Why does he have it in for me?" he mouthed to the older classmate. Yosuke shrugged, but he definitely did not like Morooka as well.

"Maybe Teddie was lucky to stay home to work at Junes, instead of having to deal with King Moron," Yosuke thought to himself as this friend of his was working to earn money, to pay off the times he basically used Yosuke's money a lot without his permission. His thoughts were interrupted as Mr. Morooka's yells filled the air once more.

"Anyway... all you damn teenagers, listen up! We're soon going to be approaching Themis Legal Academy! You know, the prestigious high school and all? So you twits better not embarrass me or our school. Make sure to put on your translation earpieces if you haven't already and make sure you don't break or lose them. They aren't cheap at all," Mr. Morooka lectured. Everyone began to put on their translation earpieces.

"This is it guys. Are you all ready?" Yu asked. The rest of his friends nodded as their bus along with the bus carrying Gekkoukan High's students approached the school.

* * *

><p>It was a large rectangular building with a large campus to boot. The front of the school had a symbol that appeared to be a golden judges scale imprinted on it and a large circular clock above it as well. Soon the two buses stopped in the front, and both emptied out. Ms. Toriumi was overlooking her students, and Mr. Morooka was overlooking his as both groups were next to each other. Soon the front doors opened and out walked one student who was also wearing the translation headpiece. She wore a black uniform dress that had a yellow ribbon tied beneath the neck cuffs, the same golden symbol imprinted on the uniform, white stockings, and black shoes. She had brown eyes, brown hairs, and had a sunflower adorned on the right side of her hair. She was Juniper Woods, the current student council president of Themis Legal Academy. She was childhood friends with one of the attorneys who had helped saved her from false charges, from the incident last month. She was currently studying to be a judge at the academy. She wore a friendly expression as she said the following words,<p>

"Welcome to Themis Legal Academy!"

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>So what did you guys think? Please be honest with your thoughts and criticism as I've stated before, since I want to improve my writing and make sure you readers have a improved experience. A couple of notes I want to state.<br>**

**1. So some characters from both the Persona 3 & Persona 4 groups you may have noticed were excluded. Ken, Koromaru, Aigis, and Teddie. For Ken... I could not think of a feasible way to get him involved. He's a character who goes to grade school, so why would he get invited to a trip for a high school? For Koromaru, he's an animal and they definitely would not have allowed him as well so I figure he needed someone to take care of him while the rest of SEES was gone, so Ken fit that role as well. Aigis... well considering her capabilities, it would make solving the eventual murder mystery too simple, so I thought about having her guard the dorm to not get her involved. Teddie... well he doesn't even go to high school as well. I thought about having him sneak onto the trip but...**

**2. I also felt the need to trim some characters out. Too many cooks spoil the broth they say, in this case, too many characters would also be hard to focus on. So that's why I personally didn't have any issues cutting them out. Sorry if you are a fan of those characters. But with a crossover between both the Persona and Ace Attorney series, many characters will get involved, and I had to trim what I could.**

**3. I was very descriptive with the characters and environments. The reason for doing so, was due to the main fact that this is a crossover. Not everyone reading this will have experienced both series and everything from both series. So I wanted to familiarize the characters for fans of both series, to help readers visualize characters they may not be familiar with. Some things like what SEES stands for will be explained in future chapters.  
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**4. As stated before, this is slightly a bit of an alternate universe. The events of Persona 3 & 4 take place at different times, not to even include the Ace Attorney timeline as well. So I took some liberties in that regard, but characters will remain in characters for the most part, so keep that in mind.**

**And that's it for now. Ultimately this story I think will be from 4 to 6 chapters depending on how I write the future chapters. The next chapter should be ready in about two weeks from now, maybe a little more or less depending on how it goes. I do intend to finish this story as I already have all the general details worked out, so let's hopefully see this story to an end.**

**Anyway... thank you all for taking time out of your day in reading this, best of luck with your own stuff, and until the next chapter, will we meet again.**


	2. A Social Linking Lunch

**So Chapter 2 is finally up! First off let me say thanks to everyone who has read this so far, I really appreciate it. Let me quickly address some things. **

**One review states that the timeline isn't exactly consistent, well like I noted in the previous chapter, I decided to take the liberty of making things not happen exactly the same way due to Persona 3, Persona 4, and the Ace Attorney games taking place at different times. It is a bit of an alternate universe, so not everything is exactly the same from their original games. That said, I will try to keep the characters in detail.  
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**I also understand why the title can be changed to reflect the team effort of both the Persona 3 & 4 cast, but I feel it ultimately serves it's purpose the way it is. Plus the rest of SEES and the Investigation Team aren't all present so that was another reason why I feel the current title works.**

**Finally I tried to cut down on character descriptions as best as I can. I know it can be overbearing on the readers and that they can look up stuff if they're not fully aware of who is who. But some things I had a lot of description for, due to... reasons. But overall, thanks for the opinions and criticism and don't be afraid to speak your mind for this chapter as well, and I hope you enjoy Chapter 2!**

* * *

><p>"Welcome to Themis Legal Academy!" Juniper had exclaimed to both groups. Ms. Toriumi flashed a warm smile while Mr. Morooka rolled his eyes. "Thank you all for coming and staying for the week here in California. I hope you enjoy your time here and the school festival on Friday we are going to have. I'm Juniper Woods, the current student council president. I will be here today to take you around campus. You guys will also have time to explore on your own leisure later so don't worry about it being purely a straightforward experience. Does anyone have any questions before we go look around?<p>

The teachers were overlooking their students to see if anyone had any questions. However no one ended up raising their hands.

"Great! Then let's get start-" but before she finished her sentence, everyone including her got distracted by the sound of an approaching vehicle. A red sports car was driving towards the entrance and parked nearby the two buses. Soon two men emerged from the vehicles causing Juniper to gasp in surprise and excitement.

"Mr. Edgeworth! Mr. Wright!" she exclaimed happily. She ran over to give the two gentlemen a friendly handshake, which they both obliged. While she was more familiar with Mr. Wright due to him being Athena's and Apollo's mentor, she was aware of who Mr. Edgeworth was due to his reputation and the times he had visited Themis Legal Academy in the past to make speeches. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well I'm here with Mr. Wright to discuss with the school's board of education regarding some matters. I presume they should be in the conference room?" Edgeworth replied back.

"I would think so? Sorry about not being knowledgeable about this. I was uninformed of you two coming today. You can both definitely check out the conference room right now if you want," Juniper replied. Edgeworth nodded and he noticed all the students and the two teachers outside. "So I see the students from Gekkoukan and Yasogami have arrived. I hope things go well for all of you,"

"That's right. Actually would you two mind introducing yourselves to them? I think it be a great opportunity for them to get the chance to meet great people like you," Juniper asked. Edgeworth and Phoenix looked towards each other. Phoenix shrugged not seeing any issues, and they both turned towards Juniper with a smile and nodded. Both Edgeworth and Phoenix walked up in front of both groups and stopped in front of them.

"I'm Miles Edegworth. The current chief prosecutor of this district. Pleased to make your acquaintance to you all," Edgeworth said with a bow. Most of the students replied back in some fashion, Edgeworth understanding due to wearing his translations earpiece.

"I'm Phoenix Wright. A defense attorney who runs his own agency. Nice to meet you all!" Phoenix shouted casually. However when most of the students replied back, Phoenix had no clue as to what they were saying at all and he ended up feeling pretty embarrassed, especially due to having Japanese ancestry. He still needed to receive a translation earpiece from the academy.

"Err... I'm going to be honest. I did not understand a single word of what you guys said at the moment. With no translation earpiece and all. But regardless, have a fun time during your time here! " Phoenix replied with a sheepish smile. Soon both Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright were on their way as they entered the building, leaving everyone else outside. Ms. Toriumi couldn't help but recognize the two from courtroom TV she would catch sometimes in the past while she was younger, while Mr. Morooka could not help but wonder if he should have went to law school instead of becoming a teacher, and also found their names familiar.

"I'm sorry about making you all wait longer. Let's get started!" Juniper explained, as both groups got into an orderly fashion and began to follow her.

* * *

><p>We go back to focus on Phoenix as he was waiting outside two large wooden doors, standing outside of a hallway. Edgeworth had already went inside to talk privately with the school's board of education regarding some matters before they would let him in. He decided to make a phone call to pass the time.<p>

"I wonder how those two are doing?" he said quietly as he called.

In the city of San Francisco, two young attorneys were currently relaxing at a cafe outside, sitting on the outside seats at a table, both enjoying their own cup of coffee. They were both relaxing about in more casual clothing then their usual attorney attire they would wear whenever working.

One person was wearing a golden bracelet on his left wrist that stood out He had brown hair that had two "horns," stick out together in the front, and brown eyes. He was Apollo Justice, and has been working under Phoenix Wright for at least a year. He was known for being more aggressive compared to his mentor, and for his loud chords of steel, empowering his voice, and was very perceptive of people.

The other attorney was was wearing a white and blue school uniform from Themis Legal Academy, her childhood friend had given her as a gift after the incident last month, and a most peculiar necklace that held a circular technological device. She had orange hair, tied into a sideways ponytail with a blue ribbon, pale white skin, blue eyes, and a very energetic personality. She was Athena Cykes and she had just joined the Wright Anything Agency earlier this year and has been a big help since as she also specialized in studying psychology to help her with finding the truth as well.

"Man it feels good to relax doesn't it?" Apollo asked, in a very serene mood at the moment.

"Thanks to Mr. Wright. I'm glad that he gave us that break off," Athena replied with a huge grin.

"I know. I do wonder how he's doing at the moment?" Apollo replied. As if just on cue, he felt his cell phone ringing in his jeans. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID. "Well what do you know Athena. It's Mr. Wright!"

Apollo opened the phone up, put the phone on speaker so Athena could listen and respond back as well, and began to talk back. "Hello! Mr. Wright is that you?"

"Hey Apollo. How are you and Athena doing?" Phoenix asked.

"We're doing fine. Thank you so much for the time off by the way." Apollo replied.

"Yeah! You're awesome boss!" Athena added enthusiastically.

"That's good. Just don't forget that you two are due to come back later this week." Phoenix said.

"No problem Mr. Wright. How are you doing? I know that whole incident last month with Themis Legal Academy must have been annoying for you as well," Apollo replied back.

"Great. Actually... speaking of Themis Legal Academy, I'm over there right now at the moment" Phoenix replied.

"Really!? Why?" Athena asked with curiosity.

"Because an old friend of mind, along with the school's board of education are pushing for me to replace Professor Means after what happened last month. I'm soon going to be in a meeting with them, discussing this in more detail. They're willing to fund for my education and everything. This wouldn't be immediate of course if I do end up teaching, but something I figure I should let you two know about it," Phoenix explained.

"That's awesome boss! You totally would be the most popular teacher at that school," Athena said with happiness.

"Wow. Mr. Wright that's pretty cool. I wish you the best with whatever you end up deciding to do," Apollo added.

"Yeah. I'm still debating my course of actions so we'll see how today's meeting will go. By the way... if I need you two for anything since I'm currently dealing with this, would you guys mind coming back if I call you back earlier from your break? This is only a precaution in case I require you two of course," Phoenix replied.

"No problem Mr. Wright. We understand if you're busy and if you need us to come back earlier this week, we have no issue whatsoever," Apollo explained.

"That's right boss! You can always count on us," Athena added on.

"Thanks guys. Well let's hope it doesn't come to that since I want you guys to enjoy your break fully. Have to end this call soon guys, they're about to let me in," Phoenix said. However Athena suddenly remembered something as she quickly talked next.

"Wait Mr. Wright! Before you go can I ask you for a favor?" Athena asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Phoenix answered.

"You just reminded me of a gift I got for Juniper I left at the office, since you were just talking about Themis Legal Academy earlier. I left it in the closet in the bathroom. Would you mind picking it up after your meeting today and bringing it to her tomorrow?" Athena said.

"Sure Athena. I have no problem doing that. Anyway I'm about to head into my meeting with my friend and the school's board of education. I'll catch up with you guys later. Bye guys!"

"Bye Mr. Wright!" both Apollo and Athena answered back. Soon the sound of their connection was cut as Apollo closed his phone.

"Can you believe it? Mr. Wright being a teacher?" Apollo asked, trying to picture his current mentor teaching in a high school. "That be an interesting class,"

"I totally go to our boss's class. I imagine we be ace attorney pros like him in no time," Athena said with a smile.

"By the way, what did you get Juniper anyway?" Apollo asked.

"A sunflower hat! She's really into nature in her free time so I figure it be perfect for her. Plus after the events of last month, I want to make sure she's happy," Athena said with a big excited smile. Soon the two would continue their conversation and continued to drink their coffee in peace, enjoying their time off.

* * *

><p>We go back and take a look at a very large and clean cafeteria in Themis Legal Academy. Juniper had left the two groups to have some alone time for lunch, as she had to be elsewhere for the period. Gekkoukan High had it's students split into two tables. One table was completely filled up with students and the remaining students for the others were the members of SEES. All the students had a black bento box that had their covered opened. The top had a bed of rice with the Gekkoukan symbol (due to radish and olive toppings) blocking the view of various vegetables and proteins below it.<p>

"Like I said on the bus, let's all thank Mr. Aragaki for what's sure to be a nice lunch," Ms. Toriumi praised as she stood nearby, monitoring both tables. Shinjiro couldn't help but shrug once more. He was not used to this kind of attention or praise in a educational setting.

Nearby the two tables, a line stood with the Yasogami High students getting food from the cafeteria cooks themselves as they didn't bring their own lunches. We'll focus on the same seven students from before, as Yu was in the front and Kanji was in the back. Kanji was talking to Yosuke in front of him about what happened earlier on their bus ride.

"Look I'm sorry about what happened earlier. Can we please drop the subject Kanji?" Yosuke said annoyed.

"No! If you hadn't annoyed me, I wouldn't have thrown the animal cracker," Kanji retorted. Yosuke rolled his eyes at what he was hearing, as he just received a tray filled with freshly cooked mixed vegetables, steak, mashed potatoes, and a carton of milk.

"Look Kanji. Drop it. I'll make it up to you when we get back to Inaba," Yosuke replied.

"But... I got two weeks of detention because of you! I don't see what can make that up so easily?" Kanji replied still annoyed as he received his own tray of the cafeteria food.

"Oh I know what I can do to make it up to you," Yosuke said with a mischievous smile as he leaned close to Kanji's ear to whisper the following, "A body pillow of Naoto,"

"**WHAT!?**" Kanji said flipping out as his sudden outburst had accidentally caused him to throw his tray of food behind him. This unfortunately covered the student that was behind him in the various food. It was the same student that Kanji had hit with the animal cracker on the bus before, and he was glaring at Kanji again. Many students from both schools were snickering at the sight.

"Oh crap! That was an accident I swear! I'm so sorry dude!" Kanji said with both extreme nervousness and guilt. The other boy did not look amused as he wiped off the stuff off his clothing. Mr. Morooka gave Kanji the stink eye and took out a notepad, as he began to write what other punishments he could add on besides detention. Shinjiro, seeing the whole spectacle just sighed as he walked up to the boy that got hit with food. He noticed the green and orange knight's crest symbol and had an idea.

"Hey. Why don't I make you a special bento box for you by tomorrow? Since it must suck to have food dumped all over you. No offense to clumsy blonde hair and all," Shinjiro said. Kanji just sighed from embarrassment, while the kid just stared at Shinjiro. Then he just stormed off, not responding. "Well I guess I'll have to find him on my own time tomorrow to give it to him,"

Kanji just sighed once more as his appetite just died from what just happened. Yosuke himself also sighed as he couldn't believe at what he just saw. "Hey Yu, where are we sitting at?" he asked to try to get his mind off of what just happened. Yu quickly surveyed the area. The rest of the Yasogami High students were sitting a table away from the students wearing the SEES armbands when they filled it up. He saw that many tables were empty, but for some reason he was drawn to looking at the Gekkoukan students with the red armbands. Something about them really caught his attention.

"Hey Makoto. I think those students from Yasogami High want to sit at out table," Junpei whispered to the blue haired boy. Makoto turned to look at the seven. For some reason, he felt something special was up with them, especially the boy in gray hair he had never seen before.

"Sure. I see no problems," he responded quietly. He looked towards Fuuka who nodded back with a friendly smile.

"Why don't you guys sit at our table? The more the merrier!" Fuuka asked with a smile from her seat with the other SEES members. Soon the table had both groups sitting together.

"Sorry about that embarrassing stunt from before. I'm Kanji Tatsumi," the sophomore opened up with.

"Don't worry about it. Stuff happens. I'm Shinjiro Aragaki," Shinjiro replied.

"Yeah. It's no problem dude. I'm Junpei Iori," Junpei chimed in.

"Well I'm Yosuke Hanamura. The guy who kind of caused Kanji to react like that, so the blame is on me if anything," Yosuke said, feeling a little guilty for annoying Kanji today so far.

"Like Shinjiro sempai said, stuff happens so no worries. I'm Yukari Takeba. You guys are part of Yasogami High right?" Yukari asked.

"Yep. I'm Chie Satonaka by the way. Nice to meet you all!" Chie answered excitedly.

"I'm Yukiko Amagi. And you're all from Gekkoukan High?" Yukiko added.

"That's right. I'm Akihiko Sanada as for my introduction." Akihiko answered.

"I'm Naoto Shirogane. Pleased to make your acquaintance," Naoto said in a calm manner.

"Fuuka Yamagishi. Really nice to meet you all," Fuuka said happily.

"I'm Rise-" but before Rise could finish, Junpei had just realized who she was and started to get really excited.

"You're the famous idol Rise Kujikawa! Can I get an autograph?" Junpei asked. Yukari just slapped Junpei, causing him to yelp in pain and have an annoyed expression. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Forgive my classmate Stupei here. He has his moments," Yukari said, using one of the many insults she had for Junpei.

"That was totally unnecessary and don't call me Stupei... at least not in front of people who don't know me," Junpei replied annoyed. Rise just sighed while Mitsuru decided to take the opportunity to introduce herself.

"I'm Mituru Kirijo. Pleased to make my acquaintance as well," she said calmly. Yosuke, hearing this instantly freaked out similarly to Junpei.

"Kirijo!? Then does that mean you're part of the Kirijo Group!? The famous company with tons of businesses? Ever think of working together with the local Junes department store in Inaba?" he asked excitedly. Chie began to tug at Yosuke's ear, as everyone just felt awkward looking at the sight.

"Knock if off Yosuke! Don't be rude like that," Chie shouted. Yosuke just whined at the pain while Yukari couldn't help wonder if Yosuke was their Junpei.

"Well anyway... I'm Yu Narukami. Pleasure to meet you all," Yu said trying to put past what just occurred.

"Likewise. I'm Makoto Yuki," Makoto said. The two boys reached to shake hands. For some, reason they felt their was something... special about the other person but they quite couldn't quite put it into words. Like something about the other person felt different but they didn't know how to describe it.

"So what are those red armbands for? We noticed you guys are the only one from Gekkoukan wearing them." Chie asked curiously.

"They also have the letters... S, E, E, and S on them spelling... SEES," Yukiko added, as she was also curious. The others from Yagogami couldn't help but notice it as well. It was very particular they had to admit. Junpei looked nervous, Yukari and Fuuka couldn't help but have a face of doubt enter their expression, while Akihiko, Makoto, and Shinjiro tried to look stoic. Mitsuru simply smiled as she was prepared to answer this question.

"It stands for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," she simply said. Chie and Yukiko had a confused expression, Kanji and Yosuke just raised their eyebrows, while Rise, Naoto, and Yu had a skeptical look on their face. "Execution meaning course of action of course. What we do at our school... is help support our school and try to fight against Apathy Syndrome with the best course of action."

"Apathy Syndrome? Isn't that the condition people from Tatsumi Port Island get?" Rise asked, as she remembered hearing about news reports about such a thing.

"What's Apathy Syndrome?" Kanji asked.

"It's like... super depression?" Yosuke tried to explain, as he vaguely remembered hearing about it on the news as well, but he wasn't entirely sure what it was exactly.

"That's not a bad guess. But it's much worse," Akihiko replied.

"Much... worse?" Yukiko asked concerned.

"From what I've seen on the news... Apathy Syndrome is when someone experiences an extreme level of apathy, that is so severe, that it renders the individual unable to take care of themselves," Naoto said, as she remembered watching the news reports clearly recently.

"Correct. It is a serious issue that's in Tatsumi Port Island," Mitsuru replied.

"So you guys... go against Apathy Syndrome? How exactly?" Yu asked feeling skeptical.

"Simple. We're like the mascots against Apathy Syndrome in our school," Junpei proclaimed in a comical fashion.

"What?" Rise asked even more confused. This prompted Yukari to give Junpei another whack to his head.

"Ow! OK maybe not mascots but... how do I describe it? Umm... Makoto can you explain it?" Junpei said with desperateness present.

"We do things in the community to help out. Spread awareness of apathy syndrome, and offer support for people who need it. While the exact cause of Apathy Syndrome is unknown, we believe it's a combination of stress, emotional pain, and such." Makoto said calmly.

"Support? Can you give an example?" Rise asked. They all looked each other, unsure of what to say. They couldn't exactly give away what SEES really did to these random strangers for various reasons. Fuuka took a deep breath as she decided to volunteer, but looked a bit uneasy.

"Well... before I met them... I was very alone and hurt," Fuuka said quietly as she didn't want to exactly recall the painful memories. "I was bullied a lot and I had no one really. My parents were... I hate to say it but uncaring. Needless to say, even though I wasn't really aware of Apathy Syndrome at the time, I don't know if it was guaranteed if I would get it but..." Fuuka stopped as she needed a breath to prevent herself from feeling too emotional over this, as the past was very painful for her. The Yasogami High students looked very sympathetic as they weren't unsure of what to say to what they just heard. "But then I met Makoto and the others due to certain circumstances. And... they have really been a big support in my life. They're my friends and I'm really happy I met them. I will always be loyal to them as they're like a real caring family to me. Sorry if I sound really sensitive," Fuuka finished as she smiled and held back tears.

The rest of SEES had smiles on their faces from what they heard, knowing Fuuka loved them so much and placed so much trust in them. Mitsuru, Akihko and Shinjiro had a warm expression on their faces, Junpei and Yukari were sniffling, and Makoto had a small warm smile at her. Kanji and Yosuke were comically trying to cover their faces, Rise felt really sympathetic as she was bullied a lot before she became an idol, Chie, Yukiko, Naoto, and Yu had a very understanding face. While Yu didn't fully buy it, he felt Fuuka's story was at the very least true, and was willing to believe it. He still couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding more from him, but for now he would back off.

"So what about you seven? Do you all have something you're a part of?" Makoto asked, curiously. This caused Yosuke and Kanji to flinch, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise to look a bit uncomfortable, while Naoto looked apprehensive. Yu however kept a smile up.

"We're the Investigation Team." he said plain and simple. Now the look of confusion was plastered on the members of SEES, except Makoto who looked skeptical back.

"Investigation Team? Like... ace detectives and stuff?" Junpei asked.

"Well... how do we put it... umm... basically outside of school we live to investigate stuff that's strange," Chie said as she tried to explain it, without trying to give away what they were really investigating, for many reasons.

"Strange? Like what?" Yukari asked.

"Well... we once investigated that rumor about the Midnight Channel," Kanji trying to think of an example to answer with.

"Midnight Channel? What the heck is that?" Akihiko asked.

"Well basically... a rumor about this special television channel came up in Inaba earlier this year," Yukiko tried to explain.

"It's said that if you watch TV at midnight when it's raining, you're destined to see your soul mate," Rise said with a dreamy tone.

"Really! I better get on that when I get home," Junpei exclaimed. Yukari just laughed at the thought of Junpei trying to do something like that.

"Well don't get your hopes up. The rumor is said to work only on residents of the Inaba area. That and... well it's just a rumor," Yosuke said, trying to brush the subject away.

"Well I guess you all can have worse things to investigate. I wish the Inaba police force the best with the recent news over there I heard about," Mitsuru stated.

"You mean the two murders that happened earlier this year?" Shinjiro said. Yosuke visibly flinched at what he just heard, as he was just reminded, how close he was with one of the victims.

"While I do wish the police for of Inaba the best, the progress on the case so far is... questionable," Naoto replied.

"What makes you say that?" Fuuka asked curiously.

"It's just that the police has no real leads at the moment," Naoto explained. "Also, if you're wondering why I know about this, I'm actually a detective despite my young age. My family has always been of the detective profession. I'm actually working with the Inaba police on the case as well. That's all I can say at the moment due to multiple reasons,"

"Wow. A whole family of ace detectives. That's pretty neat," Junepi said.

"That's a lot to take in. We wish you the best of luck by the way," Akihiko stated. Naoto nodded.

"We all come support and help Naoto sometimes. We are the Investigation Team after all," Yu replied.

Just as Yu was skeptical of SEES before, Makoto couldn't help but feel skeptical of what he heard from the Investigation Team. Still he felt that was enough and was satisfied from what he heard. Before anyone else could talk, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Both groups shook hands before returning to following their respective teachers. Juniper came back with a gentle smile as she called for both groups to be lined up, as she continued the tour.

"Alright guys. Today we'll check out the rest of Themis Legal Academy and tomorrow along with Wednesday and Thursday, you guys will be free to explore the school. You can sit in at the classes and lectures, interact with the students and staff, use the facilities and so on. Now let's continue with the tour," Juniper said.

"Wait before we go, I don't mean to interrupt but does this school have a store? For food and ingredients and such" Shinjiro asked.

"A store like that? Well we do actually for students who dorm here and nearby. Why do you ask?" Juniper replied.

"Just making sure," Shinjiro said as he still wanted to get the ingredients to make that bento box. The groups then proceeded with their tour of Themis Legal Academy.

* * *

><p>Phoenix had just finished his meeting with the school's board of education. Edgeworth had already left for his office, while Phoenix decided to stay and sat outside on a wooden bench, nearby the entrance of the conference room in the hallway he was in, thinking about what he ended up discussing. He was also pleased to have finally gotten a translation earpiece.<p>

"Hmm... the salary they offered is really tempting. Plus it's stable too so I don't have to worry about money issues," he whispered to himself. Being a lawyer, he only really got paid for successful case. It was not the most stable job in the world compared to teaching he had to admit.

"The funds would really benefit the agency for Apollo and Athena if I do decide to teach. Plus the money for raising Trucy... But I just got my attorney's badge back after all these years," he mumbled still feeling unsure.

"Mr. Wright! How are you?" shouted a familiar voice. Phoenix turned to see Juniper and the two groups following her behind once more. They stopped as Juniper went up to Phoenix and shook his hand again. "Sorry to delay the tour guys. I'll try to keep this brief,"

"Hey Juniper. How's the tour going for our students from Japan?" Phoenix asked.

"Great! We're nearly done for today. How did your meeting go?" Juniper replied.

"Well... I don't think I'm in the position to divulge details other then we're going to be continuing it tomorrow. We didn't finish it due to... many factors," Phoenix asked. He still wasn't sure if this was something he would do yet and still needed to consider all the options.

"Oh. Will you be back here tomorrow as well?" Juniper asked.

"Not exactly. Tomorrow we're continuing our meeting at a French restaurant called Tres Bien." Phoenix explained. "Though I will be here Friday, for a speech I plan to make for the remainder of the school festival. Though that does remind me... I will stop by tomorrow before I go to my meeting at Tres Bien to see you."

"Why?" Juniper asked.

"Because Athena left a gift in our office she wanted me to give to you. I'll stop by tomorrow to find you to give it, before I head to my meeting,"Phoenix explained.

"Athena... thank her and you Mr. Wright," Juniper said with a lot of joy present in her voice. "Anyway, sorry to hold you up. It looked like you were originally in deep thought about something before I shouted to you earlier,"

"It's really not a big deal. Why don't I say hello to the exchange students again? This time I can actually understand them," he said, pointing at the translation earpiece he was wearing in his right ear. Juniper nodded, seeing no reason to object. Phoenix got up and walked over to the two groups again.

"Hey guys! Enjoying the tour so far? Well I hope so. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi again so enjoy the rest of the week. I'll be seeing you all at the end of it again for a speech. Till then enjoy," Phoenix said warmly. The two groups replied once more, and Phoenix was thankful to actually understand what everyone was saying. He was about to head off when Ms. Toriumi suddenly asked him a question.

"Say... Mr. Wright?" Ms. Toriumi asked. "Didn't you and the gentlemen in the red suit before... haven't you two faced off in court?"

"Well that was a long time ago, but yeah that did happen in the past. Edgeworth and myself go way back. Why do you ask?" Phoenix asked.

"Just curious. I have to admit, seeing the courtroom showdowns between you two were very exciting. Wouldn't you agree Mr. Morooka?" she said.

"Err... well to be honest, I don't think I've seen this guy before in court per say," Mr. Morooka replied. "But now that I think about it... you do look pretty familiar now that I got a longer and better look at you. Aren't you the famous lawyer? The guy everyone calls an ace attorney and all that jazz?"

Phoenix had a sheepish smile on his face as he laughed. "Well I guess that's one way of putting it. But it's not really a big deal. I admit, a lot of crazy courtroom shenanigans happen when I get involved unfortunately, but anything for the pursuit of the truth. Anyway I have to get going, see you all another time!" and with that Phoenix started to walk by them. After he left, the tour continued and eventually concluded.

* * *

><p>It was now night time as we see both groups enter the lobby of the Gatewater Hotel. The students had gotten their belongings out of their buses and were now just waiting on their chaperones to finish setting up their rooms. A bellboy who was wearing a translation earpiece and holding a tray of tea was explaining to both teachers how the rooms unlocked.<p>

"So we have rooms where up to four guest can stay together prepared for all the students. Those guests will have electronic key cards that will open when used against the electronic readers next to to their rooms and only their rooms. However, since you two are the chaperones, in case anything goes wrong we have two specially made keys ready for you two," the Bellboy explained as he handed Ms. Toriumi two envelopes that contained all the electronic key cards for the Gekkoukan and Yasogami students, and for Mr. Morooka he handed him two silver looking keys.

"What are these two silver keys for?" Mr. Morooka questioned.

"Actually they're made of tungsten. Anyway, their purpose is to be able to open any door's lock traditionally from any rooms that belong to your student guests in case of an emergency. Of course this is only a precaution if anything goes wrong which it shouldn't," the Bellboy said. "Also you two will have your own rooms. Any more questions?"

"No I think that about covers it. Thank you for the information," Ms. Toriumi replied. We reconvene later to take a look at various groups of four looking for their rooms. Makoto, Junpei, Akihiko, and Shinjiro were sharing a room. Shinjiro in particular was holding bags with the Themis Legal Academy symbol, as they were filled with the necessary ingredients for that bento box he planned on making.

Yukari, Fuuka, and Mitsuru by pure chance were the last three females to be assigned together from Gekkoukan, so they didn't have a fourth occupant. Chie, Yukiko, Rise, and Naoto shared a room. We now convene with Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji as they were all looking at a piece of paper, standing in front of a door.

"So all three of us a rooming together with one other person... his name is Mitsuo Kubo," Yu read out loud.

"Mitsuo Kubo? Never heard of him before," Kanji said.

"Hmm... hey Kanji? Isn't that the guy from earlier in the cafeteria?" Yosuke said, as a familiar present walked towards them. Kanji seeing him, immediately had a cringe on his face, as he felt really embarrassed again.

"Are you... Mitsuo Kubo?" Yu asked curiously. The boy nodded while glaring at the three, causing Kanji to freak out even more. Yosuke had an uneasy expression on his face.

"Hey about what my friend did earlier, he apologizes. He really didn't mean the animal cracker... nor the lunch tray full of food. He really does," Yosuke said. Mitsuo took out his electronic card key, and swiped it at the electronic reader, and went inside without saying a word. Kanji just sighed.

"I really hope that Shinjiro's bento box cheers the guy up tomorrow," Kanji said as he felt down.

"Don't worry. He seems like a reliable guy even if he didn't say much during lunch. Those SEES guys and gals seem cool," Yosuke said.

"Indeed. I feel like they have something special going for them," Yu said. The three decided to finally retire for the night.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>So what did you guys think of the 2nd Chapter? As always, don't be afraid to state your opinions about anything and be afraid to criticize. A couple of notes I want to state quickly.<br>**

**1. Like I said in the beginning, I tried to tone down the character descriptions. Apollo and Athena I had more details in mind but I kept it more simple, as well as the Bellboy. Also for reference, the casual clothes Apollo and Athena are wearing, are based off the DLC costumes in Dual Destinies.**

**2. The thing about Phoenix's ancestry being Japanese, was something I threw in, due to the upcoming Ace Attorney game starring his ancestor who is from Japan (The Great Ace Attorney/Dai Gyakuten Saiban). So that was not made up for the story.**

**3. The sunflower hat gift is to reference Juniper's casual clothes, that she wears in Dual Destinies outside of Turnabout Academy (Dual Destinies-Case 3)**

**4. ****This chapter I finished earlier then expected for multiple reasons. Originally this was going to be much longer (but I decided to hold back for reasons) and I had free time on hand this week. However like I said for Chapter 1, I think the average time will be about 2 weeks (more or less) depending on how things go normally for me. We'll see for Chapter 3.**

**And that's about it for now. I hope you guys are enjoying the story, and I'll see you next chapter.**


	3. Prelude Towards Trouble

**So we're finally on Chapter 3! Like always I hope you enjoy reading and if you want, don't be afraid to express any opinions and criticisms you have. Point any issues or concerns, or make any statements you have in mind in regards to this chapter or the story as a whole so far. Anyway enjoy the next chapter!  
><strong>

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><p>Phoenix could not stop sneezing as he had a box of tissues nearby him thankfully. It was now November 4th, on a Tuesday morning, and after waking up this morning in his bed, he was feeling pretty ill as his body felt nauseous and exhausted as he laid in his bed with blue pajamas.<p>

"The things Trucy makes me do sometimes," he grumbled annoyed. When he got back home yesterday, Phoenix's adopted daughter Trucy has asked him to help her with a new magic trick she was working on (since she was a magician for a career), and the magic trick involved escaping a water tank. Needless to say Phoenix was thankful he was not in that cold water tank for too long, or he be the victim for his next case accidentally, as it was really cold water, and it didn't help it was the Autumn season at the moment.

"Man... no way am I going to make it to both Themis Legal Academy to deliver Athena's present to Juniper... and to get to Tres Bien for that meeting," he mumbled as his throat felt sore. He went into his bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He had bloodshot eyes, and a nose that looked red. He grabbed some medicine from the cabinet in the room and went to get some water to take it with. After that, he went back to his bedroom.

"Ugh. This isn't good. I'm going to have to reschedule everything for tomorrow instead." he mumbled as he went back to his bedroom to grab his cell phone to call some people. In another location, Apollo and Athena who were in there casual clothes were having breakfast at a diner. The two were chatting till Athena heard her phone ring.

"I wonder who's calling me?" she said, as she went to pick up her phone and look at the caller ID. "It's Mr. Wright!" and with that she answered it and put it on speaker, so Apollo could listen and respond back as well. "Hi boss! How are you? How did the meeting go?"

"Could be better," Phoenix replied tiredly "Regarding the meeting... we didn't finish. I was suppose to meet them later today at a restaurant to continue it, but I got sick, so after this call I'm going to call the board of education to reschedule my meeting with them today, to make it for tomorrow. Also I need you to do something for me, though it shouldn't be a problem,"

"Sorry to hear that Mr. Wright." Apollo said. "But what do you need?"

"Well the reason I called Athena's cell phone is to let her know, to tell Juniper that I can't make it today to deliver her gift since I'm sick and all. Tell her for me, I'll try to make it tomorrow to deliver the gift instead. I figure since Juniper is close friends with Athena they should have each others phone numbers. Can you get in touch with her, Athena?" Phoenix explain.

"No problem boss! After this call, I'll get in contact with her and let her know." Athena replied.

"Thanks Athena. Well I guess that's that. Anyway enjoy the rest of the break and hopefully I don't need you guys for anything else." Phoenix explained.

"Feel better Mr. Wright!" both Apollo and Athena exclaimed. The phone conversation ended as Athena started to dial for Juniper's number. Phoenix just ended up coughing up a storm as he started to dial for another call, to get into contact with the school's board of education. Hopefully he be in shape by tomorrow.

* * *

><p>It was morning at the Gatewater Hotel as well. Someone was knocking on the door to the room that had Yu, Yosuke, Kanji, and Mitsuo staying together.<p>

"Alright I get it. It's morning and you want us up Mr. Morooka-" Yosuke stopped talking as he opened the door and saw who it was. It was Shinjiro holding a bento box. "Sorry about that! I thought you were someone else,"

"It's not a big deal. Anyway I heard that you guys were staying here along with that guy who got food all over him yesterday. I'm here to try to cheer him up with the bento box I made for him" Shinjiro said. He went inside, with Yosuke following. Yu and Kanji were on their respective beds, both were reading a magazine about being an attorney, while Mitsuo Kubo was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh hey Shinjiro sempai. Good to see you," Kanji said. "Are you here with that bento box?"

Shinjiro nodded. He looked around and he was wondering where the fourth guest was.

"Where is he? The guy ... who got cafeteria food all over him due to you, from yesterday?" Shinjiro asked. Kanji couldn't help but have his face turn red from embarrassment

"He woke up early and went downstairs to get breakfast at the restaurant downstairs. He'll be back later before we all head over to Themis Legal Academy," Yu explained. Shinjiro nodded back.

"In that case, I'll leave it with you guys. I'll see you downstairs for breakfast as well," Shinjirio said as he handed the box to Kanji. Shinjiro left the room, leaving the three Investigation Team members to themselves. Kanji walked over to Mitsuo's bed and placed it on top, before he went back to sitting on bed and just sighed.

"Say guys... did you hear that guy sleep talking in his sleep last night?" Yosuke asked. Both Kanji and Yu shook their head for a no. "Well I'm not too surprised. My bed was the closest to his. He was talking about some questionable stuff,"

"Questionable stuff? What was... questionable?" Kanji asked.

"Well... he kept mentioning Yukiko's name while he was sleep talking," Yosuke mentioned. "I think the guy has a crush on her,"

"Well I'm not surprised. A lot of people at Yasogami like Yukiko from what I hear." Yu answered back.

"Yeah but the way this guy was sleep talking about it, sounded really creepy. Like he sounded really obsessed with her." Yosuke tried to explain.

"This is coming from the guy who according to Teddie, is said to have a nurse-"but before Kanji could finish, Yosuke covered the others mouth causing Kanji to be muffled as he tried to finish his sentence. Yu raised his eyebrows wondering what that was about.

"Forget it. Let's just go down for breakfast already," Yosuke said clearly annoyed. The three got ready and then headed down. They saw the rest of the Investigation Team sitting with the members of SEES on their own table already. While the two teams conversed, Mitsuo Kubo was already done and headed back to his room. Once there, he noticed the bento box laid on his bed. He reached out to grab for it, but then stopped shortly. He had an idea in mind for it, so he wouldn't touch it for now. He also looked at Kanji's backpack and had more ideas slowly come to mind, as he decided to look through it but not before putting on some black gloves from his bags.

* * *

><p>Juniper was at the front of Themis Legal Academy waiting for the two buses to show up. She had just received a call earlier from Athena regarding Mr. Wright's condition. She understood and had no problems waiting another day from Athena to receive her gift. At the moment, she was reminiscing the events of last month. The case that Athena had saved her from a guilty verdict from, after she was framed for a crime that she didn't commit.<p>

It was a crazy case. The murder victim was Professor Courte. A professor who taught judge courses and was the adviser for the Fine Arts club held at school. She was murdered by Professor Means after she had discovered he was taking bribes to manipulate grades of students. When she went to accuse Professor Means of this, he had stabbed her with the spear in the staff he carried around, leading her to become the victim. Professor Courte had a different ideology from Professor Means. Her beliefs was that honesty was more key to success as opposed to simply attaining victory in court, with any means necessary. This ideal clashed with Professor Mean's ideology of results being more important.

She had remembered when Athena had faced off in court against the "Twisted Samurai." A prosecutor who was a very tough and intimidating opponent. That trial had a lot of crazy revelations come to light. She recalled how Athena had managed to uncover truths regarding her classmates and friends from Themis Legal Academy. One of her classmates and best friends was found out have actually been a girl this whole time, as she masqueraded as a boy her entire school life as her parents raised her as a boy. Another one of her classmates, Hugh O' Conner, was discovered to have taken a seven year break from high school, and was actually a twenty five year old senior, a fact he desperately tried to hide that secrets unfortunately had to come to light for these two, as they did help solve mysteries during the trial that tried to hide the truth. Another classmate she had become friends with after the events of the trial, even if the other individual had some shady moments during it revealed and was wearing absurd attire.

It ultimately worked out in the end, as Athena had managed to figure out that Professor Means was the culprit. She had managed to save Juniper in the end, from the false charges brought against her. She was truly grateful. She sighed, as she felt a vapor of cold hair come from her mouth. She heard Hugh got sick earlier this week, so he wasn't at school so far for this week. She was going to be seeing Robin and her other friend later today though.

"It is rather chilly. I can understand why Mr. Wright could have gotten a cold if Hugh got one," she whispered quietly to herself. Suddenly a familiar sight greeted her vision, as two buses were soon driving towards the entrance of the school slowly. Like yesterday, students from both Gekkoukan and Yasogami High came out of their bosses, with their chaperones and they lined up.

"It's great to see you all again! Like I said yesterday, you guys will have the chance to explore on your own, but keep in mind to please not disturb any classes or cause any trouble. If anyone has any more questions don't be afraid to ask," Juniper stated. However no one ended up doing so, and soon many students from both schools started to form into their own groups to go around with. Both SEES and the Investigation Team had decided to stay together as both groups approached Juniper.

"Hello Juniper. We were wondering if we could all accompany you throughout the day?" Yu asked.

"Sure. I have no problem with that. But why me if you don't mind me asking?" Juniper said in response.

"Because you're the most amazing legal student ever!" Junpei said. Juniper looked confused while Yukari decided to quietly step on Junpei's feet to get her point across, as the male had a pained expression come across his face.

"Well we figured since you're the student council president, it wouldn't hurt since you probably know the school better then anyone." Makoto explained.

"That does make sense. Is there anywhere in particular you guys want to go to or do you want to just follow me?" Juniper asked. She looked around and they all shook their head for a no. "I guess you guys will follow me then. Let me think where I was going to go then...oh I know! I was going to go see some of my friends during their free periods today. You guys can follow me along then," Juniper suggested. They all agreed and decided to follow Juniper around. They followed her inside as they eventually came upon two metal doors with what appeared to be a white device attached to the wall nearby with the digital number 70 showing on it. It also had what appeared to be two buttons, one pointing up, and the other pointing down.

"What's that thing?" Kanji asked, pointing towards the device.

"Oh that? That's a device that regulates the room temperature. Right now it's set to seventy degrees. Anyway, we're going to stop by here for a bit if you guys don't mind. A friend of mine should be using the gym right now," Juniper said.

They entered the gym and saw what looked to be the standard gym, and the floor was filled with blue gym mats, though they noticed what appeared to be a giant refrigerator in the corner. They saw some students from Themis Legal Academy working out. One in particular, Juniper ran over and hugged. She was wearing a red track uniform, with a manilla colored smock tied over her hips with various colored paint stains on it, white sneakers, was wearing a translation earpiece, and a manilla colored headband that also had paint on it. She had short brown hair, and brown eyes and a big smirk on her face.

"Juniper nice to see you! How are the exchange students doing? Are they enjoying their time here?" Robin asked.

"They're fine. Would you like to meet some of them?" Juniper asked. Robin nodded as she walked towards the combined group of SEES and the Investigation Team.

"N-I-C-E to meet you all!" Robin spelled out, as she had a habit of doing since it was revealed she was actually a girl. "**I'M ROBIN NEWMAN!**" she finished off by yelling out, another thing she was known for doing. Her time acting as a boy, had her constantly shouting, as a way to hide her feminine side. As they say, old habits die hard. They all said their greetings and introductions with her.

"So how are you guys liking Themis Legal Academy so far?" Robin asked.

"It's pretty fun so far. The legal world is certainly a lot more interesting then I thought it would be," Yukari said.

"Is that so? Are any of you interested in becoming a lawyer, prosecutor, or judge so far?" Robin replied.

"Of course. Who wouldn't want to be defended by Junpei Iori, Ace Attorney?" Junpei boasted. "But seriously... nah probably not. I was thinking something related to baseball,"

"For me personally I'm looking for a career where I can use my strength to protect people more on the physical side,"Akihiko explained.

"I was thinking similarly too actually. I was thinking of becoming a police officer," Chie said.

"You Chie? A police officer? All the criminals would just have steak on them to distract you, and they never be caught," Yosuke joked. Chie turned to face Yosuke with an angry expression on her face, while Yosuke looked back at her with a tongue sticking out, while everyone else sighed at the sight.

"I'm not sure. I was thinking of becoming an actress possibly," Yukari said.

"I really don't see myself as a attorney or a judge anytime soon," Shinjiro replied.

"Same here. Still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life," Kanji said.

"Not particularly. I'm most likely next in line to help run my family's corporation," Mitsuru answered.

"Something similar for me. I decided after some time and discussion from friends, to help run my family's inn," Yukiko answered.

"I'm most likely sticking to my family's profession as well," Naoto added.

"I guess I'll probably be doing something related to the shopping center Junes that my dad manages, in the future possibly," Yosuke said unsure.

"Well I'm thinking about going back to the idol business, so I probably won't have time for being an attorney or judge," Rise answered.

"Sorry. I'm really not sure yet. But I don't think I'm cut out for being an attorney or judge," Fuuka said.

The only two who have yet to answer was Yu and Makoto as both boys were deep in thought. They never really thought about the future like that, as their minds were currently focused on much pressing issues they had to contend with.

"Myself in a career of law? I don't know really. What would I even be? A lawyer or a prosecutor or a judge?" Yu questioned.

"Same. I mean they all should be fighting for the truth regardless, whether by defending the innocent, prosecuting the true criminals, or making the just decisions. I really don't know what position would suit me," Makoto added.

"Well that's F-I-N-E!" Robin stated as she understood all their positions. "I definitely understand. My parents put me in this academy to become a prosecutor but I actually want to become an artist. While my future is uncertain, I'm definitely going to follow my own path in life." Robin explained. "By the way, if any of you are thirsty we have free water and green ice tea bottles in the fridge in the room if any of you are thirsty. They get restocked every Monday and Thursday morning so don't worry about taking any. Plus our fridge in general can hold a ton,"

Robin walked over to the refrigerator in the room, opened it and took out a water bottle. She then began unscrewing the cap as she began to guzzle water. Kanji walked up to the fridge, opened it, and was amazed by the amount of water and green tea bottles that were present inside.

"Oh yeah. Got to go soon. My free time is nearly up and my next class is starting soon. It was nice seeing you again Juniper. Also... **NICE MEETING YOU ALL**!" Robin shouted as she was walking towards the exit. Juniper waved to her friend and the others said their good byes. Soon Robin was gone and Juniper turned back to face the others and was contemplating her next move.

"Hmm... why don't we all get lunch together? I'm suppose to meet another friend of mine, after lunch at the maintenance area, so we have time to get some food," Juniper suggested. They all agreed as they followed her out. As soon as they left and went towards the cafeteria, someone who was following them into the room carefully surveyed the area. It was Mitsuo Kubo. His expression looked emotionless as he looked around. He had potential ideas coming to life in his head as he considered his options.

* * *

><p>We go back to focus on Phoenix as he was feeling better then he was before. He had a tray carefully placed nearby him, having a bowl of hot and fresh chicken noodle soup he made from a can earlier. He was reading a book entitled, "Psychology-The Study of the Persona," to pass the time as he found one of Athena's psychology books she left at his house, for him to read up on. Phoenix requested the books a while back since he wanted to understand psychology more whenever he had the free time. He figured it couldn't hurt to learn some new things.<p>

"So it's a mask people figuratively wear on their face huh? That makes sense. You act differently depending on the factors at the moment," Phoenix mumbled to himself as was reading the book. Suddenly he heard his cell phone ring nearby from the same table that had the soup. He closed the book he was reading, put it aside, and he grabbed to pick up the cellphone and saw that the caller ID was from a certain Ema Skye. His eyes widened as he hadn't seen that name for a while, since Apollo's trial involving Vera Misham which was about a year ago. He picked it up and opened it and placed the phone on speaker.

"Hello? Ema?" Phoenix asked.

"Mr. Wright! It's been a while. How are you?" said a familiar voice on the other line.

"Hey Ema. As for me I'm fine, just currently resting at home for at the moment because I caught a cold. How are you doing?" Phoenix asked.

"I'm fine. Sorry for the lack of contact lately, I've been swamped with work as I'm still stuck with the detective job and I'm still dealing with that fop of a prosecutor," She replied. Phoenix chuckled knowing who she was referring to.

Phoenix chuckled at the thought. "Don't worry. We all have our own schedules to attend to. Also best of luck with dealing with Klavier. What else is new?"

"Well I was actually visiting Mr. Edgeworth earlier today regarding some work issues, and I brought you up in the conversation, and he told me about how you might become a professor at an academy? Is that true Mr. Wright?" Ema asked. Phoenix couldn't help but sigh at what he just heard.

"Well that's a possibility I'm looking into. Why do you ask?" Phoenix said.

"No I just think it be really cool!" Ema exclaimed happily as she really respected Phoenix. "Professor Wright! That title definitely fits someone of your awesome reputation. I would rather attend your class then deal with Klavier any day,"

"Is that so? Well the title does sound pretty appealing. You know that reminds me, I once met a archeology professor who was really into puzzles when I was at London many years ago and-" but he was interrupted, as a beeping sound was heard from Ema's end.

"Sorry Mr. Wright. Looks like I have work to attend to. I would really love to stay and continue talking and listening but you know how it is," Ema said disappointed as she really wanted to keep the conversation going.

"I understand. We'll catch up in the future. Best of luck with everything," Phoenix said before they said their good byes. Soon the phone conversation ended, and Phoenix was back to being alone.

"At least my throat isn't sore anymore. I should definitely be well enough to make it to deliver Juniper's present and get to meeting with the school's board of education tomorrow," he mumbled quietly as he decided to finally partake in his soup.

* * *

><p>We go back to Themis Legal Academy and we see Juniper along with the members of SEES and the Investigation Team at an outdoors area nearby the back of the building. A lot of leaves of various Autumn colors covered the ground as they stood in front of a huge open garage filled with various items inside. The garage wasn't normally open unless someone with the keys had already opened it. Inside the garage was various cleaning and maintenance tools, a rectangular ball bin, a large blue mat, and etc. A black incinerator was right nearby the open garage as a cold chilly wand breezed by, pushing leaves away.<p>

"So who are we waiting for exactly?" Yukiko asked. Juniper looked at her watch. The person she was suppose to meet with was suppose to be here around this time.

"She should be here. Maybe I just didn't notice her?" Juniper said, as she wondered where her friend was. Suddenly she heard Yosuke say something that caught her attention.

"Hey, what's with this box?" Yosuke said, as he noticed what was behind them all. They all turned around to see what appeared to be a cardboard box with a blue spray bottle symbol on it, and a tag line that mentioned cleaning crime, and it had a small wide oval hole near the top and two holes near the bottom. Yosuke went to reach for the box as Juniper tried to say something, but she was too late. As Yosuke touched the box, it immediately rose with a pair of legs and arms adorned in the Themis Legal Academy uniform causing everyone but Juniper to become surprised.

"Hands off oranges!" the box hissed, as it shouted out, referring to Yosuke's brownish orange hair. Yosuke panicked as he backed up from the angry cardboard box and screamed in terror as it stared back at him.

"What the hell!?" Junpei exclaimed. "Since when are cardboard boxes alive!?"

"And now baseball cap is trying to say something witty. What a loser," it remarked causing Junpei to have an annoyed expression on his face. Everyone else had a confused expression, as the sight in front of them was pretty bizarre, and that was saying something, as they were used to bizarre situations.

"Sorry about that. This is my friend, Myriam Scuttlebutt. Please forgive her for her behavior," Juniper said, trying to calm the situation down.

"If oranges didn't try to touch my precious box, I wouldn't have gotten mad," Myriam hissed out.

"Yeah well if you weren't like trying to stalk us like a snake in a box, I wouldn't have tried to inspect your cardboard box," Yosuke retorted annoyed. "Also why the heck are you in a cardboard box to begin with?"

"Sss sss sss!" Myriam laughed and hissed like a snake. "Wouldn't you like to know? But I guess for people like oranges and baseball cap, I'll clarify so they know who I am, even though they should already know. I'm the president of the newspaper club at Themis Legal Academy. My box is the thing that helps me with my scoops for my newspaper!"

"Do you... normally wear a cardboard box over yourself?" Yukari asked, wondering at the absurdity she was with at the moment.

"Yes I do. Do you normally wear that gaudy uniform pinkie?" Myriam replied still angry. Yukari had a exasperated expression fill her face, especially since she liked her pink uniform.

"That's not nice." Yukiko said.

"Yeah! What was that all about?" Chie added.

"Great. Now the Christmas lights are trying to lecture me. Stay red, you plain lame. Stay green, the color that people puke up from seeing you," Myriam retorted. Yukiko had a shocked expression on her face, while Chie looked really mad. Rise was trying to calm the two down to no avail, while Mitsuru sighed and decided to ask her a question, to try to break the tension.

"So you're here to see Juniper?" Mitsuru had asked.

"Yes. Also to see what's up with some of our exchange buddies over the pacific are doing here along with my pal Juniper. That reminds me... say cheese!" and with a very quick motion, the arms that came out of the box quickly retreated inside as the top of the box popped off revealing two hands holding a camera. A flash of light was shown as the sound of clicking occurred. Shinjiro just sighed as he pulled his cap over his eyes, he didn't want to deal with this absurdity anymore, while Kanji was spinning around dizzily from the sudden flash of light as he was not ready for it.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Akihiko said annoyed.

"Why not gray hair? You too old for the camera?" Myriam replied with snark. Akihiko felt his hand ball up into fists as he placed them into his pockets and mumbled curses under his breath. Shinjiro couldn't help put pull his cap back up, and chuckle at that diss even if Ms. Scuttlebutt got on his nerves as well, while Mitsuru just tried to calm Akihiko.

"That's clearly a violation of our privacy, taking a picture of us without our permission," Naoto stated.

"Says who? The blue haired person trying to be fashionable like Sherlock Holmes?" Myriam stated. Naoto didn't flinch visibly, but inside her mind she was wondering if it was possible to get that cardboard box off her and dispose of it without her getting into any issues.

"You are truly something," Makoto stated, as the teenager had met a lot of interesting individuals, but a girl who wore a cardboard box over her school uniform was truly up there on the unique list.

"I agree. You are definitely pretty out there," Yu added, as he too had met a lot of specialized individuals, and had to admit that Ms. Scuttlebutt was definitely an odd one.

"Why thank you two!" Myriam said as she spun around happily, box included. "Why can't the rest of you be like these two?"

Everyone just either face palmed, or looked away unsure of what to say or do anymore. Kanji at this point was no longer dizzy as he just held his left hand against his head, trying to relax. They were needless to say, not pleased with Myriam Scuttlebutt. Fuuka however quietly said something towards Myriam, which got her attention.

"Would you... mind not being mean to my friends please?" Fuuka asked quietly and gently with a soft expression on her face.

Myriam was about to retort with even more snide present in her voice, but seeing the calm girl's demeanor and polite manner, she held her tongue and just hissed instead and ended up crossing her arms. She had to admit, the girl's gentle demeanor and politeness she had to respect. The rest of SEES and the Investigation Team smiled at Fuuka, for being polite and being able to calm Myriam down, while Fuuka sheepishly grinned in response, feeling embarrassed at the attention.

"I'm surprised you guys came to Themis Legal Academy. Considering what happened-"but before Myriam could finish, Juniper ran to her and placed her hands on the hole, where Myriam was speaking from, causing the cardboard girl's words to become muffled. She then excused herself as she pulled Myriam into the garage in the maintenance area. SEES and the Investigation Team just stared at each other confused, as they weren't sure what she was going to say.

"All students at Themis Legal Academy were told not to talk about last month's incident to the students from the other schools. Remember?" Juniper said.

"Oh... you're right. Yeah. They probably don't want to know about the murder that happened last month here," Myriam mumbled back as Juniper nodded towards her. "Let's get off that subject. So yeah. How are you Juniper?"

"I'm fine Myriam. Good to see you and your box." Juniper said in a friendly matter back. "I know our friendship was recent after the events of that incident, but I'm glad things are going fine for you hopefully,"

"It's OK. Actually I'm starting to get tired of this box. I've been wearing it, since that criminal prosecutor torched my old one since testifying for that trial," Myriam replied back. "Actually that reminds me, does this garage get any cardboard boxes?"

Both Juniper and Myriam looked around and did not see any cardboard boxes around at all. Juniper went to a thinking position as she wondered if the garage would have any cardboard boxes. Suddenly she remembered something.

"I just remembered. Sometimes the cleaning staff get new equipment through cardboard boxes and they discard the old cardboard boxes in here. I've seen it sometimes whenever it was my turn to get the ball pin for gym class sometimes. We can check tomorrow morning if any cardboard boxes have been discarded," Juniper suggested.

"I like that way of thinking! But how are we going to open the garage if it's locked tomorrow morning? I don't exactly have the keys for the lock. What if it's not open by tomorrow morning?" Myriam asked.

"Well being student council president has perks. I can probably ask for one and have no issues obtaining one," Juniper replied with a small smirk. "Anyway I have to go now. I think it's time for the students from abroad to head back to their hotel. It was nice seeing you Myriam," as she gave the cardboard box wearing girl a friendly handshake. Myriam did so back in kind. The two walked out of the garage as SEES and the Investigation Team were waiting for Juniper.

"Sorry about being a jerk before," Myriam mumbled. "I get antsy easily regarding my cardboard box,"

"Forget about it. Let's just put the past behind us," Shinjiro said. Everyone else just nodded. After they left, Mitsuo Kubo who had been following them slowly inspected the area for whatever reasons he had in mind. He was looking though the garage and around the general area, noting what was there and what wasn't. He had even more ideas in mind now. However a part of him was trying to convince him not to go ahead of what he was planning. Maybe what he was going to attempt later, would stop that darker temptation he had on mind all day. He had already bought stuff from the various stores in the Legal Academy to prepare for what might happen later, if he wasn't persuaded elsewhere.

* * *

><p>It was now the early evening and we're back at the Gatewater Hotel. All the students were either in their hotel rooms resting or elsewhere in the hotel. Mitsuo Kubo was in front of the room where the female Investigation Team members was staying in. He held the bento box that Shinjiro made for him, with black gloves. He knocked on the door and awaited a response. Soon it opened and it was Yukiko at the door.<p>

"Hello. Aren't you the guy who got hit by the animal cracker and by the food in the cafeteria?" she asked. Mitsuo nodded, trying to remain calm as he was reminded of those moments. "So... what's your name?"

"My name... is Mitsuo Kubo," he said quietly back. Yukiko nodded back but for some reason she felt uneasy.

"Okay. Well... I'm Yukiko Amagi. Umm... so what are you here for?" she asked curiously.

"Umm... I was wondering if you would like... this bento box," he asked nervously. Yukiko looked at the bento box, as he slowly opened the cover. It had carrots and peas in the midst of rice and protein underneath. The carrots and peas were arranged to resemble the knight's crest symbol.

"That's nice of you. It really is," Yukiko said. Mitsuo was smiling upon hearing this. "But... isn't that for you? Someone from Gekkoukan High made that for you didn't he?"

Mitsuo's expression immediately dropped. He was at a loss for what he just heard. Before he could say anything, a loud voice from the room emerged, interrupting him.

"Yukiko sempai! You left your cell phone in the bathroom. Can you go get it? We're all going to head down for dinner soon." said what sounded like Rise.

"Sorry. I really appreciate the thought. But I feel it be rude of me if I ate it. You should enjoy it though. I think Shinjiro sempai would like it if you did," Yukiko said. She then just closed the door as she went back into the room. Mitsuo slowly covered the bento box back with it's cover. He felt his whole body was just empty from what he just heard. He slowly walked back to his room, as his moment of trying to stop himself was over, as it was time to go all out. Needless to say, if this was a cliche movie scene, a storm outside the hotel would be brewing, to signal what was coming in the future.

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>So what did you guys think of Chapter 3? Next chapter is when it looks like some stuff is about to finally go down. I admit this chapter was made more so to setup for it. A couple of notes before I end off.<br>**

**1. So you may have noticed I intentionally avoided naming a certain prosecutor during this chapter. I have my reasons, though mainly if I do decide for this individual to show up, I feel it have more impact later on with a proper introduction. We'll see how that goes.  
><strong>

**2. Speaking of unnamed characters, you might have noticed Phoenix referenced a certain Professor of puzzle solving fame. Technically from what I understand, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is not a canon game for both series, but since this is FanFiction and it's already non canon, I figure why not.**

**3. Myriam was a character from Dual Destinies I thought would be fun to include, considering her very unique presence in the third case. I always wanted the chance to work on seeing how Juniper and Myriam's friendship would develop after the case since we don't see Myriam any point past Turnabout Academy.  
><strong>

**4. I think it's pretty safe to say who is going to be playing the role of antagonist, but like any mystery, it's all about proving it, and in the Ace Attorney series, through a crazy courtroom showdown.**

**Anyway as usual, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter, thanks for taking the time out of your day, best of luck as usual with whatever you're dealing with, and until the next chapter (I say about two weeks more or less depending on how things go), till we meet again!**


	4. Setup For Falling

**Well we're finally on Chapter 4. I originally thought this story might run from 4 to 6 chapters but it may run longer possibly. We'll see how it goes. Anyway as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and don't be afraid to say any opinions or criticisms you might have on this chapter or on any parts of the story so far. Anyway have fun and enjoy yourself!**

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><p>We got to look at a hallway at the Gatewater Hotel. Mitsuo Kubo was knocking on the door as he wore a backpack filled with various tools and objects he needed for later. Soon the door opened and Mr. Morooka came out, looking rather annoyed.<p>

"What is it?" Mr. Morooka grumbled.

"Trouble due to Tatsumi in the room," Mitsuo quietly said. Morooka's eyes immediately perked up as he rolled them, as he walked off towards the room where the four guys from Yasogami stayed at. Mitsuo gulped as he knew this plan would only work if what he needed to bait Morooka to where he needed to go was in his room. He walked into the room and eyed around, searching for the carrot he needed for his stick. His eyes glowed upon seeing what needed to lure Morooka out. He grabbed it and in it's place left a note, as he rushed out, heading towards his next destination. Soon we see Mr. Morooka complaining as he made his way back to his room.

"Tatsumi wasn't in the room. What was that guy's deal?" Morooka mumbled confused and annoyed. As he walked back into his room. He immediately noticed that the tungsten key he placed on the table nearby his bed was gone and replaced with a paper note. He immediately went to it and picked up the note. He read it carefully, and after finishing, crumpled the note in his hand with frustration.

"I don't know what that kid is playing at, but I can't afford to lose that key," Mr. Morooka grumbled. He decided to go along with the instructions he read for now. We go back down to focus on the members of SEES and the Investigation Team as they were all seated together at the restaurant in the hotel. They were having dinner together as they conversed about various topics.

"So. Is it just you seven who investigate stuff? Any other members?" Makoto asked as he took a sip of ice cold water from the glass cup he held.

"Well we have a friend named Ted back at home. He also helps out with investigations," Chie replied.

"What's he like?" Yukari asked.

"He's kind of... out there," Rise said, wondering if talking about Teddie was the best thing to do at the moment.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Mitsuru asked.

"Well for starters, he works with me at the Junes department store, and let me tell you, working with that slacker can get annoying," Yosuke answered.

"You work with him?" Akihiko asked.

"Yep. All because he has to work off paying a debt for times he would spend my money on stuff without my permission. Needless to say he can be quite a handful," Yosuke said.

"He also tries to hit on girls a lot. Needless to say, it usually doesn't work out," Yukiko added.

"Sounds like my kind of guy," Junpei remarked with a smirk. Yukari rolled her eyes as usual, at Junpei's comments.

"He's still a nice guy. He just has some annoying tendencies from time to time," Naoto stated in defense of Teddie.

"What about your group? Any more members besides you seven?" Yu asked.

"We have a friend named Aigis who is a transfer student. She helps out SEES sometimes," Yukari explained, trying not to go into too much detail.

"She's really nice. Though she acts a bit... robotic if you were to ever meet her," Junpei joked. Yukari and Mitsuru looked at Junpei with a glare, while he gulped. "I mean I'm sure that's only sometimes,"

"Moving along, we also have a grade school student named Ken Amada who helps us at SEES." Akihiko said.

"A grade school student?" Rise asked confused by what she just heard.

"His school is allowing him to participate in our club. He was the one who wanted to join," Mitsuru explained.

"Last but not least is Koromaru. He's our pet dog, and he's a really good boy," Fuuka answered happily.

"Oh do you guys have a picture of him? I love dogs and I would love to see him," Chie asked. Makoto nodded as he took out his cellphone and looked for a picture of Koromaru saved onto it. He finally found one, that had him and Fuuka walking a white dog with red eyes at a park, as they were all smiling.

"He's so cute!" Yukiko said. She was reminded of when herself, and Chie found a dog when they were younger, and how Chie now raises it. "Don't you think so Kanji?"

Kanji blushed from the sudden focus on him as everyone turned to face him. He sheepishly smiled as he nodded. Shinjrio seeing this just rolled his eyes.

"It's not a big deal. I like Koro chan as well, don't be afraid to admit it if you feel that way," Shinjir replied. Kanji stared back, surprised to hear Shinjiro casually say that, but then he realized that the members of SEES were a friendly group that wouldn't look down on him for saying stuff like that.

"Yeah. He is very cute for a dog," Kanji said. Everyone else smiled at his statement, as they had no problems with what they just heard. Eventually when they were all done with dinner and their conversations, the students all went to their respective rooms. We focus on Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji as they made their way back into their room.

"Man was that a great dinner. Who would have thought pizza from California would be so awesome," Yosuke remarked feeling quite pleased.

"They have quite the healthy take on food here," Yu added.

"Those Californian rolls were pretty top notch as well," Kanji said with a big happy smile. The three were back inside. Yu and Yosuke went to go grab for a magazine on legal matters nearby as they decided to rest on their beds. Kanji went to go grab something out of his backpack but noticed what he was looking for wasn't there. He grew nervous as he couldn't find what he was looking for at all, as all he found was what appeared to be a note. He looked at Yu and Yosuke and saw they were too busy reading their magazines. He carefully read the note and felt his whole face cringe with horror.

"What... what the hell?" Kanji quietly mumbled to himself at the situation he was currently in. He sighed and quickly put the note into his pocket as he felt nervousness begin to consume him. What exactly did he do to deserve this. He quietly began to walk around the room to search for their fourth roommate and had no success.

"Hey Yu sempai! Have you seen that Kubo guy?" Kanji shouted.

"No I haven't. I've barely seen him all day," Yu replied, as he looked away from his magazine to reply to Kanji.

"Before you ask Kanji, no I haven't seen him all day either," Yosuke added. "Plus I really don't want to be around someone who looked so angry the other day,"

Kanji sighed as gave them both his and and stepped out of the room and immediately headed to a certain other room to get some support.

"It's one thing to let my friends and sempais know about my personal stuff but... the entirety of both Yasoinaba and Gekkoukan High School? That is... something I'm not ready to talk about like that," Kanji quietly said as he felt very conflicted. He soon found himself in front of the room where the male members of SEES were staying at he began to knock on it. Soon Shinjiro found himself opening the door, and wondering why Kanji was there.

"Oh I'm so glad you were the one who answered the door. Umm Shinjiro sempai? I really need a huge favor," Kanji asked nervously. Shinjiro stepped out into the hallway as he closed the door, and went up to Kanji. "I'm kind of a in a situation at the moment,"

"What is it exactly?" Shinjiro asked concerned. Kanji was about to hand Shinjiro the note but hesitated. Shinjiro noticing this, raised his eyebrows.

"What's wrong?" Shinjiro questioned.

"It's just... please make sure you keep what you're about to read to yourself. I'm not really open about this kind of thing to anyone as you're about to learn one of my secrets," Kanji asked with concern. Shinjiro flashed the younger teen a smile, as he nodded understanding. Kanji gulped as he handed Shinjiro the note he found earlier in his backpack. Shinjiro carefully read the following with a lowly whisper to himself as he was beginning to understand the situation.

"If you don't want your secret regarding your knitting becoming known to the students of Yasogami and Gekkoukan High, and want your equipment back, come to the gym at Themis Legal Academy at midnight tonight. If you don't show up, prepare for your secret to be unraveled," Shinjiro read very quietly to himself. He went to look at Kanji who looked like he was ready to die of nervousness.

"First off, I will keep your secret so don't worry about me talking about this. Secondly, how exactly would this person prove your secret to others who don't know about it? Is he talking about the equipment?" Shinjiro asked.

"Well... I like to carry around knitting equipment and yarn to knit with. It's really calming and it's something I like to do when I'm alone or when I'm with people who know about it. My knitting stuff in my backpack went missing so I'm guessing the guy who sent the note, swiped my stuff as well," Kanji explained.

"Who's responsible for this note then?" Shinjiro asked.

"Well that's the thing, I'm really not sure but... I do have a little hunch," Kanji mumbled. "I think... it might be that guy I got... food all over in the cafeteria the other day,"

"Are you sure?" Shinjiro asked. Kanji shrugged as he honestly wasn't entirely sure.

"Well that's the thing, I've barely seen the guy at all today. So I don't know but I don't know who else it can be. I doubt Yosuke sempai and Yu sempai would do something like this to me because they already know about my knitting hobby. So I don't want to say it's necessarily him but... well it seems to be pointing that way. Plus he's got a motive and everything, considering what happened in the cafeteria," Kanji explained. Shinjiro went deep in thought as he began to take in these details.

"So not that I wouldn't necessarily mind helping but why are you telling me this?" Shinjiro asked, curious.

"Well I feel I don't want to get the others involved from the Investigation Team. I really rather not make more trouble for them. I told you because of you making that bento box for that guy. I really appreciate it since you tried to make it up to him, after what I did accidentally," Kanji explained. "So that's why I feel comfortable talking to you about it like this."

Shinjiro sighed as he took in that information. He wondered how he got himself in these situations some times. He then gave a smirk and shook Kanji's hand, trying to restore the younger teenager's confidence.

"Alright I'll help you out. First, what time is it right now and what is it that you need me to do exactly?" Shinjiro asked. Kanji pulled out his cell phone and checked to see what time it was, before responding.

"Right now it's 7PM. I want you to accompany me tonight. I don't feel comfortable going there alone at night. I also don't want you to let anyone else know. I really feel bad to get your friends involved as well," Kanji asked. "You never know what can happen and all,"

"Fair enough. I'll meet you around 11:00 at your room and then we'll head out from there. The school's not that far away from this hotel, so we can easily make our way there on foot," Shinjiro replied. Kanji nodded, feeling a lot better compared to before. He began to walk back to his room, with a bit more confidence compared to before, but he still couldn't shake off that feeling of dread completely.

* * *

><p>Mr. Morooka was walking down a hallway that had the lights off. He was surprised the doors were still open as he had no problem getting inside despite no one being around. He soon found himself standing in front of the gym doors. It was now 9PM, the time he was told to come here. He slowly but carefully opened the door as he went inside and found himself standing on a blue mat placed near the entrance. The gym was dark without the lights. He entered and closed the doors as he spotted a silhouette on the other end of the gym.<p>

"Alright kid, enough playing around. Give me back my key and stop messing with me," Mr. Morooka said plain and simple. The other individual slowly approached him as Morooka stood still. Soon they were both very close to each other. The figure smirked as he took off the backpack he was wearing, unzipped it, and took out what appeared to be a small but metal baseball bat.

"The hell are you-" but soon Mr. Morooka was silenced as the sound of metal colliding with him became apparent. Soon that same relentless sound would continue till silence soon filled the air. The tip of the bat and blue mat under Mr. Morooka were stained with crimson liquid as the attacker began to take deep breaths. Mitsuo soon placed the bat near the crumpled body of Morooka, as he quietly walked over to the refrigerator. Mitsuo carefully looked at his black gloved hands to make sure they weren't stained in red as he then began to take out every water bottle and green tea bottle with the exception of two green tea bottles. Mitsuo slowly began to empty the water bottles over the crimson liquid littered, as he began to clean the scene of the crime.

Eventually, after discarding all the bottles the blue mat was soaked with water as the body, bat, and blue mat was cleansed of the blood. Mitsuo then went back to the refrigerator and carefully opened it. He took the two green tea bottles and carefully opened it. Mitsuo then took what appeared to be a small glass bottle with a liquid inside of them. Mitsuo carefully opened it up and poured some of the liquid into each green tea bottle. Mitsuo then closed the green tea bottles and carefully placed them back into the refrigerator. Mitsuo then sealed and placed the medical bottle back into his bag, as he quickly headed out of the room and headed towards the maintenance area to find the garage door locked. Mitsuo took out what appeared to be a lock pick and began having his way with the lock, as it eventually unlocked.

Mitsuo then opened the garage up and among the things he saw earlier, he went towards a dolly that was currently being unused. Mitsuo grabbed it and wheeled it back towards the gym quickly. Once there he carefully picked up Morooka's dead body from the blue mat and slowly placed him onto the dolly and carried it over to the maintenance area and placed the dead body into the ball pin. Mitsuo quickly closed the garage door. Mitsuo then went to the nearby incinerator and threw the tungsten key into it, and started it up, wanting to destroy the evidence.

"That should get rid of that key," Mitsuo whispered quietly to himself. Despite wearing gloves, he wanted to dispose of it, just in case. Mitsuo made his way back to the gym and checked to see if any blood remained. He saw none of the crimson liquid, and smirked a wicked grin.

"Now to hide myself till that guy comes by," Mitsuo whispered quietly to himself.

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><p>It was now 10:55 PM. Kanji was feeling his stomach slowly churn away as he watched the clock in the room slowly tick towards the time he would meet with Shinjiro. He noticed that Yu and Yosuke were already asleep while Mitsuo was still nowhere to be found. The pressure was starting to get to him. He then heard a quiet knock on his door. He slowly made his way to it, careful not to make any noises that would wake up Yu and Yosuke. He opened it and saw that it was Shinjiro outside.<p>

"I decided to come a little early to make sure you were ready. You sure you want to do this?" Shinjiro asked. Kanji slowly nodded. Despite being nervous he still wanted his knitting stuff back and wanted to find out who messed with him for sure. As Kanji stepped out, Shinjiro stopped him with his arms.

"Huh? I thought we were going?" Kanji asked confused.

"We are but we have to do one thing before going out. Another reason I came early... do you still have that note?" Shinjiro asked. Kanji nodded though he wasn't sure why Shinjiro was asking this. "I think we should play it safe and have a picture taken of that note. Like with our cell phone and then we send it to our email addresses in case we ever need it again,"

"That's a good idea Shinjiro sempai!" Kanji exclaimed then suddenly covered his mouth, as he didn't want to wake up Yu and Yosuke. He quickly turned around and saw that the two were still asleep in their respective beds and sighed with relief. Shinjiro rolled his eyes while Kanji took out his cell phone. He carefully held the paper note in one hand and took a picture of it and then sent a copy to his email address. Shinjiro followed up, doing the same.

"Alright, let's go. Hopefully nothing turns out wrong," Shinjiro stated. Kanji nodded. It was time they went to the designated meeting spot.

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><p>We go back to look at Phoenix in his bedroom as he was quietly overlooking a folder. A red folder that was labeled with "Apollo Justice," and was filled with documents and pictures of the mentioned. Phoenix was looking back over the cases that Apollo had taken in the past. He recalled how the young man progressed since his first case to the person he was at the moment. More confident and full of experience, but still not at a level where he would feel comfortable with Apollo taking over the agency. He found himself staring at a group photo, where himself, Apollo, Trucy, and Ema were hanging out at the office and couldn't help but smile.<p>

Phoenix then placed the red folder, on the desk near him as he went to go pick up a yellow folder that was on top of a black folder on the same desk. It was labeled with "Athena Cykes," and he began to overlook the documents and photos inside. Athena while still a rookie in the agency has definitely proven herself well so far to Phoenix. Her success in the case last month, and her assistance in two cases earlier this year where she helped out Apollo and Phoenix respectively. Her skills with psychology made her a skilled lawyer, during those courtroom showdowns. Like Apollo, she would grow with more experience and learn the skills of the trade over time more. He found himself staring at a group photo that had himself, Apollo, Athena, and Trucy smiling in his office and couldn't also help but smile at that, as well.

His expression changed from one of happiness to concern, as he placed the yellow folder back onto the table and began to overlook the black folder that was labeled with "Confidential," as he went over a certain prosecutor's documents and information. If were to ever truly pass on the agency to his proteges, he would first make sure he would get the mystery regarding this person, truly solved in regards to an incident that happened many years ago. The UR-1 incident. An incident that occurred at the Cosmos Space Center in California, where a scientist who was working on robotics with psychology was murdered and the prosecutor he was reading about confessed to the crime despite doubt lingering in the air. Edgeworth believed that the prosecutor was not the true criminal, and was only taking the blame for the crime, and Phoenix agreed as well. The details didn't truly all add up in regards to this prosecutor being the one responsible, for what happened.

This incident was one of the main causes of the "Dark Age of the Law," as one other thing about the incident that was kept more in secret, was accusations about the convicted prosecutor being an international spy, as the Cosmos Space Center's rocket was also sabotaged the same day, due to a bombing. This coupled with years of corruption due to certain figures being found corrupt within the legal world, had sparked public opinion and distrust of the legal system to an all time low. Phoenix was determined to find the real truth of the matter and help end this distrust in the legal world. This was something he would do, not only for Edgeworth, or himself, but for the legal world and to protect the prosecutor who was has taken the fall for a crime, he believed he didn't commit.

Phoenix yawned as he found himself getting tired. He decided it was time to call it a night, as he placed the black folder on top of the red and yellow ones. He went to the bathroom to get some medicine that was recommended for taking during the night before going to bed, that would help ail his illness, though he felt almost back to normal. He took it with some hot water, and soon found himself more ready to sleep, as the medicine he took was also known to make one even more sleepy. He quickly brushed his teeth and headed to bed, needing to get ready to stop by Themis Legal Academy tomorrow, and to have his second meeting with the department of education at Tres Bien afterward.

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><p>Kanji and Shinjiro found themselves standing in front of the gym doors as it was now midnight, with Kanji having sweat dripping off his face due to the tension he felt. Shinjiro's expression remained stoic, though he couldn't deny that he felt a bit uneasy on the inside as well. They slowly opened the doors and stepped inside, surprised to see the lights were on. As they walked in, the doors leading to the gym behind them suddenly closed.<p>

"**WHAT THE HECK!?**" Kanji yelled with both a mixture of anger and fear. He immediately went to run back and tried opening the doors, but for some reason they wouldn't open. From outside, we see the door handles were being barred by a metal baseball bat holding them together. That same metal baseball bat used to kill a our victim earlier.

"It's no use. Whoever did this, probably was hiding outside nearby somewhere and waiting for us to get in. They probably locked us in by barring the outside," Shinjiro calmly mused, but he was definitely feeling more cautious then he did before. Kanji looked back towards Shinjiro, with an expression of panic. Suddenly the temperature in the room became much hotter, as someone began to use the temperature control device from outside the gym.

"What? I was already sweating from being nervous, now I'm going to roast in here like it's a sauna?" Kanji shouted even more confused and annoyed. Shinjiro felt sweat start to drip off his face as well, and that was saying something since he was used to wearing a lot of clothes, even during times like the summer. Kanji began to desperately bang against the door even more, but to no avail, it still wouldn't open. Shinjiro quickly looked around, and tried to see what they could do to alleviate the situation, and saw the refrigerator from earlier, when they went with Juniper around the school, earlier that day.

"Why don't we just get something from the refrigerator? That should help cool us down." Shinjiro said. Kanji immediately nodded as they both went to the refrigerator and opened it, only to be surprised by there only being two green tea bottles left.

"Wow. The students here waste no time going though their drinks," Kanji said, trying to lighten up the mood. Shinjiro couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the sight, as Kanji handed him one bottle. That seemed way too many drinks to go through, even if many students went to this school. Still his body was telling him to quench his thirst before he became a dried up sweaty prune, as he opened it up and began to drink it all down.

"That hit the stuff!" Kanji shouted, more relieved than he was before. Shinjiro nodded back, though he suddenly found himself clutching his head, as a sudden wave of drowsiness began to hit him.

"Why do I feel... so sleepy all of a sudden," Shinjiro said, as his eyelids began to drop. Kanji himself began to yawn as well, as he too began to feel drowsiness begin to take him in. Suddenly both hit the floor as they began to slowly doze off, till they were finally asleep. Some time had passed before the door slowly and quietly opened as someone peered into the room. Mitsuo unbarred the room as he took out the same baseball bat he used to kill the victim with. Mitsuo saw Kanji and Shinjiro were knocked out as he quietly made his way in. Mitsuo had reset the temperature to what it originally was now, as he no longer needed it to be really hot.

"I didn't expect that guy who gave me the bento box to be here. Oh well. Guess he'll have to take the blame as well. Time to place these two with King Moron so they can take the fall," Mitsuo very quietly said to himself. Mitsuo carefully made his way out the room to get the dolly he used earlier to transport Mr. Morooka and brought it into the room. Mitsuo carefully placed Kanji and Shinjiro, one by one onto dolly, to not awake them and he slowly wheeled them out to the maintenance area. Mitsuo carefully placed them one by one on the ground. With intense caution, he carefully searched Kanji's jacket pockets to see if he brought the note he placed into his bag earlier. With luck he did, and smirked. Mitsuo stuffed it into his pocket for now, and had some other ideas to incriminate them.

Continuing with extreme caution, Mitsuo took Kanji's jacket off very slowly, and he was lucky the teenager was a heavy sleeper, as he was still snoozing. He placed the jacket over Morooka's dead body. Then he went to Shinjiro, and very delicately removed the top of Shinjiro's cap and placed it on Morooka's head, and slowly pulled it down where it now covered most of his face. He then took out what appeared to be the bento box that Shinjiro gave to him earlier and placed it on the floor. He then took out what appeared to be knitting needles and yarn and placed it on the ground as well. Finally he took out the baseball hat he used for murder and to bar the doors earlier, and placed it near them as well. He took a final quick look around to make sure nothing was going wrong, and then he slowly closed the garage door quietly and put the lock back on. Mitsuo then went to the nearby incinerator and placed the note he took from Kanji, and threw it inside, as it soon turned to ashes. He then turned the incinerator off, feeling no more use for it.

"Ha. I should be good now. These guys are done for tomorrow morning. Have fun rotting away in prison in the United States," Mitsuo mused as he walked away and headed back towards the Gatewater Hotel. Eventually when he got back, he quietly made his way back to the hallway where his room was. He swiped his card, and slowly opened the door and saw Yu and Yosuke sleeping in their beds. He carefully made his way to his own bed, and soon went to sleep, with the joy of what he had just managed to pull off.

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><p>Later on it was now morning as the sun was slowly rising. Myriam was still wearing that same cardboard box over her uniform, as she and Juniper were walking towards the garage in the maintenance area.<p>

"Thank you so much for doing this Juniper. It means a lot to me, even if it's all just for a new cardboard box," Myriam said with glee. Juniper smiled at her friend.

"It was no problem Myriam. Getting the key to open the garage is a not a big deal for my friend. Now let's see if any new cardboard boxes are inside the garage," Juniper replied. She took out the key, and unlocked the lock, and slowly pulled the garage door up. However when it was fully open, they were not prepared for what they saw, as a bizarre sight was seen by them.

"Hey. Aren't those two of those guys sleeping on the ground from yesterday when I saw you?" Myriam questioned as they stared at the sight before them. Kanji and Shinjiro laid on the ground still sleeping amongst some things that weren't there before, and they also noticed what appeared to be someone covered by a jacket and a cap in the ball bin. Juniper and Myriam slowly walked up the sleeping figure, and carefully, raised the cap over the face it was covering only to react with extreme fright, as they saw the dead eyes it covered.

"**WHAT!?**" both Juniper and Myriam screamed out from what they just saw, and what was soon going to set the stage for the next act.

**To Be Continued...**

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><p><strong>Well that's a wrap for Chapter 4. Needless to say, the next chapter is when things will get even more interesting. A couple of notes as always.<br>**

**1. Since the other party members (Teddie, Aigis, Ken, Koromaru) didn't show up, I figure I give them more of a proper mention to make up for not having them appear. They're a part of their respective teams after all, even if they're not present.**

**2. So this is kind of suppose to mirror what happens during the events of Persona 4 but like a lot of things so far in this story, will have it's own liberties in regards to it.**

**3. Stuff like Nyquil can really be dangerous huh? You never know when someone can use stuff like that to their advantage for better or worse.**

**Well that's about it. If you have any criticisms, concerns, opinions, don't be afraid to state them. If not, I just appreciate the fact you're reading it at all. Best of luck with your own stuff and I hoped you enjoyed reading. **

**PS-That new trailer for Persona 5 was awesome! Anyway till next chapter!**


	5. Investigating Scientifically

**Wow. I finished this chapter a lot faster then I expected. It's the longest one yet as well. I had a lot of free time in between writing Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 I guess, compared to the other periods in between. Anyway... I hope you're all enjoying this story! As always, if you got any opinions, thoughts, criticisms, and such that you want to state about the chapter or the story in general, feel free to do so. I hope you enjoy Chapter 5!**

* * *

><p>It was the morning of November 5th as Yosuke slowly woke up and noticed that Mitsuo Kubo was finally sleeping in his bed nearby, as they barely saw the guy yesterday. Something odd he noticed was that Mitsuo had black gloves on.<p>

"Huh. That's strange. Who sleeps with black gloves on?" he mumbled to himself thinking it was a bit strange. He also noticed that Mitsuo was once again mumbling about Yukiko in his sleep. Yosuke rolling his eyes, took out his cell phone and decided to video record the guy for a bit, so the others would know what he meant by Mitsuo being creepy, when he sleep talked about Yukiko. He also noticed Kanji wasn't in the room as he was doing this, and wondered where he was. He soon stopped and decided to wake Yu up, and get ready for breakfast soon, careful not to wake Mitsuo up, as he didn't want to deal with him.

In another room where the male members of SEES were staying in, Makoto slowly found himself waking up, as he removed the blue bed sheets off himself, as he was in his blue pajamas. He noticed that Junpei was still asleep while Akihiko was up and looking concerned, and didn't notice Shinjrio was around.

"Is Shinjiro sempai still not back?" Makoto asked, as he recalled the older teenager told them last night, he would be having some alone time.

"No. I hope he's alright," Akihiko replied with a lot of concern in his voice present. He and Shinjiro were really close so the fact Shinjiro wasn't present at the moment, made him feel a bit tense. Makoto went up to Junpei and lightly tapped his fellow classmate causing him to wake up.

"We have to meet everyone downstairs for breakfast." Makoto said to a yawning Junpei, who nodded in agreement. All three of them got dressed and headed down. They noticed that the Investigation Team was already with the rest of the members of SEES. They noticed that Yu and Yosuke looked nervous and that Kanji was missing.

"Say Makoto? Have you or any of you guys seen Kanji around?" Yu asked. They all shook their head for a no. "Well that's no good. No one in our group has seen him as well."

"Where's Shinjiro sempai? Isn't he staying with you guys?" Yosuke asked as he noticed he wasn't present as well.

"He's missing like Kanji. I don't like this," Akihiko replied.

"Maybe they both went to go for a walk or something?" Junpei suggested.

"No. I don't think they take this long if that's what happened. They should be back in their respective rooms by now," Mitsuru stated, also starting to feel concerned. Suddenly Ms. Toriumi walked into the restaurant as she approached their table.

"Have any of you seen Mr. Morooka? I can't go take any of the Gekkoukan students till he's present to take all of the students from Yasogami High," she asked. They all shook their head for a no as, they all stared at each other wondering what this meant. Suddenly the sounds of a cellphone ringing occurred from Ms. Toriumi's pocket.

"That might be him," Ms. Toriumi said as she picked up her cellphone and turned to listen, relieved that she finally found the other teacher. However is she heard an unfamiliar voice on the other line she began to feel even more concerned. "Who is this?"

However her expression soon turned from one of relief to one of horror as her facial expression began to dramatically change. Both SEES and the Investigation Team were now really concerned, as they felt they were clearly not aware of the situation. She then closed the cell phone and had an expression of panic clearly plastered on her face.

"You all stay here. We're not going to Themis Legal Academy today. I have to head over there right now though to take care of something," and with that she quickly ran out of the restaurant to inform the remaining students before heading over.

"Okay. I haven't seen Ms. Toriumi in that much stress since preparing us for midterms," Yukari said. "Something is clearly going on,"

They all nodded, as they could only wonder what was happening. Suddenly their attention was drawn towards the TV in the restaurant, as a special news bulletin began to play.

"We interrupt this program to bring breaking news. A dead body has just been found at Themis Legal Academy with two suspects in custody over there. The school has been closed for today and will reopen on further notice. We go live at the scene with our reporter, Lotta Hart at the scene. Lotta are you there?" spoke a news anchor.

The scene switched from the TV station from being at the maintenance area at Themis Legal Academy with various police officers abound. A woman with a big curly red afro who was wearing a green sweater, and blue jeans was holding a mic as she began to speak.

"We're here at the scene of the crime, and I reckon it is probably not a good day to visit class here today," she said in her southern accent. "An adult male was found dead in the garage at the maintenance area here with two teenager boys who are suspected of being criminals as they are now being tried as suspects."

The live feed soon showed two very familiar teenagers, each being restrained by a police officers, that caused all of SEES and the Investigation Team to have what can be said to be very surprised expressions. Despite Kanji not wearing his jacket, and Shinjiro not wearing his cap, they were clearly recognizable to the members of SEES and the Investigation Team, who they were. Without a moment sooner, they immediately got up, left money for any food they already ordered or ate, and immediately ran off as they headed towards Themis Legal Academy on foot. This was not a good morning so far.

* * *

><p>Phoenix was trying to calm down Juniper as he held a gift wrapped box that had Athena's gift with his left hand, and had his right hand over her left shoulder, trying to calm the girl who was still hysterical down. He had just happened to be near the entrance of the school earlier that morning when he heard screams from the maintenance area. He headed over there and found the scene of the crime. He remember that he saw Myriam who was frantically taking pictures of the crime scene wildly while Juniper was in tears calling the soon arrived and it then ended up in the current situation. Myriam was currently being interrogated by a bunch of police officers nearby.<p>

"Mr. Wright! What are you doing here?" shouted a familiar voice. Phoenix turned away from trying to calm Juniper down and saw a very familiar detective he spoke to yesterday. It was Ema Skye. She was still wearing her white lab coat over a green vest, brown pants, black shoes, pink sunglasses over her brunette hair tied into a ponytail, was wearing a translation earpiece, and wore a bag that had various forensics equipment. Phoenix told Juniper he would come back to calm her down, as he walked towards the detective with a huge love of science and forensics.

"Ema? Are you the detective assigned to this case?" Phoenix asked.

"Well sort of. I'm one of the detectives. Detective Fulbright has also been assigned to work on this case as well," Ema explained. Phoenix nodded, though it just made him wonder where Bobby Fulbright was at the moment. "But never mind me, why are you here Mr. Wright?"

"I was here to drop off a present to a friend of one of my lawyers working at my agency here, before I headed to my meeting but... well you can see what happened," Phoenix answered. Ema nodded and sighed, as she looked towards Kanji and Shinjiro who was being restrained. Kanji was struggling wildly as he kept screaming about how he wasn't the criminal, while Shinjiro was remaining calm despite having a huge glare present on his face.

"I don't know what to say really. It looks like those two did it at the moment," Ema said feeling unsure.

"I don't believe it!" shouted Juniper towards Ema and Phoenix. They both turned to face the girl as she had tears leaking from her face. "I know they look really suspicious but... from the time I spent with them, I don't think they did it," she said trying to defend the two exchange students. Phoenix walked up to Juniper and gave the girl a reassuring smile as he gave Juniper what was Athena's gift.

"This is Athena's gift. Treasure it of course. But for now, I don't think it's time to open it considering what happened. Don't worry Juniper. I'll see what I can do," he said with confidence. Juniper smiled as she wiped away tears. Ema smiled to see that Phoenix was always ready to defend those in need. He walked over to in front of Kanji and Shinjiro and stopped. Kanji immediately calmed down, recognizing it was the famous defense attorney from the other day, while Shinjiro's glare lessened. With his free hand, he grabbed a small green object known as the magatama from his right pocket. It was a special gift from a very close and old friend of his that had a very special ability. It would allow him to see if someone was lying or not.

"I'm here to help you two. But I need to know one simple thing. Did you two kill the victim?" Phoenix said calmly.

"No/Hell No!" answered Shinjiro and Kanji respectively. Phoenix waited to see if his magatama would react in anyway. It didn't which gave Phoenix a sigh of relief, and a confident smirk.

"Good. That's all I wanted to know." as he walked back towards Ema and Juniper. Before Ema can say anything, an out of breath Ms. Toriumi ran onto the scene as she stopped to take a breather. She then saw Phoenix and immediately called for him.

"Mr. Wright? What are you doing here?" she asked, recognizing the famous defense attorney from earlier this week. Before Phoenix could answer, a stampede of footsteps could be heard as both SEES and the Investigation Team also arrived at the scene, also breathless. Phoenix looked confused at why so many people were showing up.

"I should be asking, why are you and all these students here?" Phoenix replied as he recognized the teacher and the students from the other day. Ms. Toriumi glared at SEES and the Investigation Team, as she wondered why they came.

"Why are you all here? I told you all to stay at the hotel," she asked.

"Sorry Ms. Toriumi. But Shinjiro sempai and Kanji are our friends. We're not going to abandon them! We're going to investigate this like ace detectives!" Junpei proclaimed. Ms. Toriumi began to argue with the students, as Phoenix looked back at Ema who can only shrug, as she was just as confused to what was going on. Phoenix had to admit though, he admired their attitude. Suddenly another individual arrived at the scene.

"Sorry to be late Ms. Skye! I should be ashamed at not being punctual. Not a very just thing to do," shouted the man. They all turned to face him. He was wearing a white coat, white gloves, white pants, brown shoes, a light blue tie over a red office shirt which the coat covered, a translation earpiece, and finally yellow tinted sunglasses.

"Who the heck are you?" Yosuke asked, wondering who they were dealing with now.

"Detective Bobby Fulbright! Defender of justice as justice would like it. In justice we trust!" he comically and enthusiastically exclaimed as he presented his wallet, that showed off his police badge. Everyone felt awkward at the detective's comical introduction. Ema cleared her throat, trying to get back on topic.

"Well good thing you're here. Have you been informed of all the details?" Ema asked towards Fulbright.

"Yep. On my way here I had received all the details. I say this case is pretty close and shut. The trial is already being prepared for tomorrow," Fulbright said. Ms. Toriumi's eyes looked like they were ready to go fully white, as she felt even more pale.

"What? You can't have a trial that fast!? Plus they're going to be tried here in the United States? Are you being serious!?" she asked really more concerned. Both the members of SEES and the Investigation Team agreed as that seemed so absurd.

"That's right. They will be tried tomorrow and in a courthouse in this state. Can't let any loose ends slip away. That reminds me... are you the other teacher and chaperone? The one I called earlier on the phone to come by? The one that's not the murder victim?" Fulbright said. Toriumi nodded unsure, and wondered why he just asked that. "Perfect! In fact I have to take you to the police station right now to make to have you sign many papers to have you and every single student from both Gekkoukan and Yasogami High for many obligations. They'll have a state attorney provided to them, to defend them of course," Fulbright explained. He then grabbed Ms. Toriumi with his right hand, as she struggled as the detective slowly pulled her away from the scene.

"Mr. Wright! Please be their defense attorney!" she shouted out, catching everyone's attention. "When I was younger, and saw your victories and determination in court on television, I was amazed at how you fought for those in need and for the truth. Please do this!"

Fulbright still had a grip on Ms. Toriumi, but stopped moving as all eyes on the scene turned to look at Phoenix, who was now deep in thought. He however sighed as he was about to say something that he knew they didn't want to hear.

"I can't," Phoenix answered and everyone had a shocked expression from what they heard.

"Why not!?" Chie asked, confused why someone like Phoenix would decline.

"What I'm about to say, I am not suppose to really talk about but I see I have no choice. I have a meeting today I am not allowed to reschedule with Themis Legal Academy's board of education. I was suppose to have my second meeting with them yesterday but I had to reschedule due to falling ill. They told me yesterday that today is the very last day I can meet with them regarding an important matter they are insistent on me settling. Also whenever I choose to defend someone, I conduct my own investigations, and I can't at the moment," Phoenix explained. Everyone else felt at unease. "But... to say that I'm going to leave these two young men defenseless is wrong,"

"But I thought you just said you couldn't be their defense attorney?" Yukari asked.

"Before anyone does anything else, I have to make a very important phone call," Phoenix said as he walked away leaving everyone else confused. He quickly dialed the numbers for his proteges considering the urgency of the situation.

* * *

><p>Apollo and Athena were at a cafe as they were enjoying another breakfast together. Suddenly, Apollo felt his phone ringing as he reached to see who was calling.<p>

"It's Mr. Wright," he said, as he once again opened his cell phone and placed it on speaker, so Athena could listen. "What's up Mr. Wright?"

"Apollo and Athena, if you're both listening to this... I need you two back at the office as soon as possible," Phoenix said in a serious manner. Apollo and Athena's cheery attitude, immediately turned serious as they listened. "Something terrible has happened and I'm unavailable to defend two people I believe are innocent. I really need you guys to get back as soon as possible,"

"Mr. Wright don't worry. We'll prepare leaving right away. We should make it back some time tonight," Apollo replied.

"Good and thanks so much guys. I'm sorry to interrupt your break but this is a real emergency," Phoenix said.

"No problem boss! We promised we help out if you needed us to come back early, and we're not going back on that," Athena said.

"Thanks. Now I have to go. Please hurry as soon as possible." and with that they said their good byes, as Phoenix closed his phone. Apollo and Athena looked at each other and immediately nodded, as they paid for their breakfast and immediately headed to the hotel they were staying at, to pack their stuff before heading back to Los Angeles. Phoenix walked back to the group as they were all wondering what the phone conversation was about.

"So what's the story?" Akihiko asked.

"I just got off the phone with my proteges. They'll defend these two young men," Phoenix said with confidence.

"Proteges?" Junpei asked, wondering if that was the best thing to do.

"You mean... Apollo and Athena!?" Juniper exclaimed, as they all turned to face her as she hadn't spoken in a while. "Everyone, I know a lot of you don't know them, but Apollo and Athena are experienced attorneys who have served under Mr. Wright. They are very competent and I have full faith they can save Shinjiro and Kanji,"

"Well if she has faith in them, then I have faith in them," Mitsuru said. "I imagine anyone working under such a renown defense attorney would just be as skilled,"

"They are experienced. I have absolute faith in Apollo and Athena," Phoenix said with a lot of confidence.

"But what about doing your own investigations? You said whenever you would defend someone, you would also conduct your own investigations." Ms. Toriumi asked concerned. "Your proteges aren't here right? So who's going to investigate in your place?"

Phoenix turned to Ema who nodded back at him. She then took a deep breath, as she was about to respond back to the high school teacher.

"Don't worry. I'll soon be investigating the scene of the crime and I've worked with Mr. Wright and Apollo in the past. You can count on me for support," Ema answered confidently. Ms. Toriumi sighed, but reluctantly smiled.

"All right. I wish you the best of luck with your decision, Mr. Wright. Ms. Skye can you take these students back to the Gatewater Hotel before doing anything else?" Ms. Toriumi said. Before Ema, could respond, Phoenix looked towards her direction and gave a wink. Ema nodded understanding what it meant, then went to respond to the high school teacher.

"Sure. No problem," she replied as some members of SEES and the Investigation Team looked distraught. Makoto, Yu, Mitsuru, Naoto, Fuuka, and Rise all noticed the wink that Phoenix gave to Ema, which led them to believe something was up.

"Alright then. Time for you to go Ms. Toriumi. Also Ms. Woods, and Ms. Scuttlebutt, we need you two down at the station for questioning. Let's all go now," Fulbright announced. He slowly walked away with Ms. Toriumi, while Juniper and Myriam slowly followed. Kanji and Shinjiro were slowly being led away from the scene but they stopped near Makoto and Yu as both quietly and quickly whispered something to their respective leaders, before being pulled away due to the officers restraining them. Soon the only ones at the scene left was Phoenix, Ema, the rest of SEES, and the rest of the Investigation Team.

"Alright Ema. I'm going to ask three requests from you before I have to get going," Phoenix said, as she nodded, figuring what that wink was about.

"What is it Mr. Wright?" she asked.

"First, do you have details you can tell me that you feel is important in regards to this case before I go? I kind of know a lot as it is, but anything else should help," Phoenix asked. Ema pondered as she went into a thinking position.

"Well not really. The only other thing I know is that Klavier is going to serve as prosecutor for the trial. Other then that, nothing you don't know I think," Ema explained. Phoenix nodded in response as he was glad someone like Klavier was taking the case as opposed to a certain jailbird prosecutor who was much harsher in comparison.

Phoenix then carefully looked at the high school students before them. For some reason... he felt a lot of passion and determination emoting for them, and something inside of him felt this was the right thing to do, for what he was about to say next.

"For my second request... this is going to sound a bit extreme, but I want you to let all these students to help investigate with you." Phoenix asked. Ema felt a little surprised at what she heard. Normally she would honor any request from Mr. Wright, due to the tremendous respect she had for him, for what happened a very long time but she felt hesitant with this one.

"With all due respect Mr. Wright, I really don't feel comfortable with this request. I don't think they're experienced with this kind of thing," Ema replied.

"Not true." Yu stated. "As proof, one of us has a profession of being a detective,"

"Really?" Ema asked curious. Naoto stepped forward and nodded.

"My family has always been of the detective profession. Despite my age, I am a detective," Naoto stated. Ema couldn't help but be amazed. Still she had her doubts though in general.

"But... why do all of you have to get involved then?" Ema questioned.

"Because we want to help protect our friends who need it right now," Makoto answered.

"As well as finding the truth for what really happened," Yu added.

Phoenix couldn't help but smirk. Those were the two philosophies he lived by in his career and he had always treasured, and here he was with two groups of students from high schools from Japan who followed it as well.

"See Ema? Have faith in them. I understand if this is a hard request, so whether you allow it or not, I'll ultimately leave up to you. Also my last request. Regardless if you show up with them if you decide to let them assist you or not, I also want you to visit my office tonight to meet me if I'm back by then, or Apollo and Athena if they're back by then, and give a status report on the investigation. Now I really have to now get going. Good luck everyone," and with that Phoenix began to walk away from the scene. Ema turned to face both SEES and the Investigation Team and carefully studied their faces as she pondered this decision. She was asked to bring them all back to the hotel earlier, but Mr. Wright had asked her to let them help out. She ultimately ended up sighing and smiling.

"Alright. You guys can help out with the investigation. I'm Ema Skye by the way, for my introduction. Just please try to stay on your best behavior," Ema said. They all nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation. They all walked over to the garage as they noticed the ball bin had white tape laid out where the body laid.

"Before we do anything else, I'm going to explain the situation from what I know so far. Early this morning, we had two students from Themis Legal Academy opening the garage here at the maintenance area. Those two being Juniper Woods and Myriam Scuttlebutt. Inside they found Kanji Tatsumi and Shinjiro Aragaki asleep on the ground. In the ball bin they found someone covered by a black jacket that turned out to belong to Kanji, and a black cap that belonged to Shinjiro over the victim's face. Some objects that were out of place were also found here. That about sums it up for now."

"So they were both found sleeping in here? I wonder how they even ended up here," Rise said out loud.

"I guess we're going to have to find out. Let's start the investigation. Don't worry about not interacting with the evidence as we had officers already took pictures of the whole scene and recorded everything including their placements and such." Ema said. "First why don't we take a look at that bento box? I mean why the heck is a bento box even here?"

They all walked over to the bento box that was still left at the scene of the crime. Some of them instantly recognized it.

"That's the same kind of bento box that Shinjiro sempai would make for us," Yukari stated. "What's it doing in here?"

Ema carefully put on some white latex gloves as she picked it up. She then removed the cover and noticed the knight's crest pattern made with green peas and carrots.

"That's strange. I don't remember Shinjiro's bento box having the same design when we had lunch earlier this week," Akihiko stated.

"It wasn't. Ours had the Gekkoukan High symbol made from olives and radishes on top of the rice," Fuuka stated. She remembered before the trip, when Shinjiro was helping her with improving her cooking, he was also working on making bento boxes for the students of Gekkoukan High.

"Hey... now that I'm looking at it, someone came by last night with a bento box," Yukiko said. All attention turned to her as she began to ponder. "Yeah... I think it was that guy who was given the box from Shinjiro sempai. The one who got food all over him by Kanji by accident,"

"So... is he our suspect?" Chie questioned. All the students from SEES and the Investigation Team now looked at unease, as they remembered the incident at Themis Legal Academy's cafeteria earlier that week. Could that person really be the one behind everything?

"Whoa there! We shouldn't be pointing fingers till we all go through all the evidence," Ema reminded.

"I agree. While it's good to keep in mind who possibly did it, we should go through every piece of evidence before going through potential suspects," Naoto stated.

"Exactly. Though I admit I appreciate the relevance you guys brought so far, and that's only just one piece of evidence. Anyway... so this particular bento box has unique toppings atop the rice huh that's different from the ones you had the other day?" Ema stated. She took out a instant camera from her bag and snapped a photo of the opened bento box, as a photo then came out of the camera. She then covered the box again.

"Alright. So I think the bento box has been cleared up. Let's take a look at another piece of evidence. Officers found what appear to be... knitting needles and yarn at the scene too," and with that she walked them over to that piece of evidence that laid on the ground. While the members of SEES were unsure of what the significance of the knitting stuff was, the Investigation Team had a fairly good idea.

"I'm pretty sure I know who's the owner of the knitting needles and yarn," Rise stated. "I'm pretty sure they belong to Kanji,"

"Kanji has knitting needles and yarn?" Junpei asked confused.

"Well it's something he doesn't really like to discuss, but he likes to knit in his free time," Yosuke explained.

"Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own hobbies they like to partake in," Mitsuru replied.

"Okay so they belong to Kanji. But why are they here then?" Yukari asked.

"Well... while Kanji does normally carry his knitting stuff around, I highly doubt he would bring it outside like this," Naoto stated as she began to ponder the facts. "He would usually knit by himself or if he's with people that know about it, and he would do it in a private space, so him having it here is contradictory,"

"Actually... I think I know why Kanji's stuff is out here," Yu said. "But before I say why, I think we should take a look at the rest of the crime scene before I explain that,"

Ema taking this all in, nodded as the relevance of another evidence was being made clear to her, as she took a photo of the knitting equipment and yarn with her instant camera. She was starting to see why Mr. Wright wanted them to help out besides their attitudes. Being close to the two defendants, they could apply their knowledge of what they know to help out with the investigation.

"Alright. Moving along, another piece of evidence we found at the scene here was a metal baseball bat. We believe that this is the murder weapon," Ema stated, as they walked over to a baseball bat that laid on the ground.

"How do we know for sure this is the murder weapon?" Chie asked.

"Well the wounds on the victim's body were all done with blunt force and they seem to match the baseball bat." Ema stated.

"But wouldn't blood stains be left on it then?" Yukiko stated. Yosuke rolled his eyes at what he just heard.

"Come on Yukiko. If the baseball bat was the murder weapon, the culprit would obviously clean the blood off. Though... that does make me wonder how we test for blood," Yosuke stated. Ema suddenly had a glint in her eyes as she suddenly had a big smirk on her face.

"We can prove if blood was on this baseball bat or not, even if it was wiped away," Ema stated proudly. She rummaged through her bag, and took out a white spray bottle.

"You see, I have a huge love of science, and being able to use science to help solve crimes is something I'm passionate about. Do any of you know what luminol is?" she said. Everyone but Naoto shook their head for a no.

"It's a chemical that can help detect blood, correct?" Naoto stated. Ema nodded with a smile.

"Yes. If we spray luminol on the baseball bat, we can see if any blood was on it. Let's all find out, shall we?" Ema stated, as she carefully knelt down and began to spray the baseball bat. Soon the whole thing was covered in the spray.

"I don't get it. It doesn't look any different aside from being covered in luminol spray," Junpei said, as he scratched his head.

"Well here's another thing about luminol. If we're in a bright area and it's not dark, nothing will be shown. But... if we close the garage doors, and turn the lights off, that's a different story." Ema said with confidence. She walked over to the garage doors and pulled them down, closing the garage, and she then made her way towards a light switch nearby. With a simple flick, the lights went off, and they soon all saw what she was talking about. The room was dark, but the tip of the baseball bat was now glowing blue. She made sure to take a picture of the baseball bat while it was like this, and soon she turned the lights back on, as they all stared back at her impressed.

"What you just saw, was the luminol reacting with any residuals of blood left. So needless to say, it looks like the baseball bat is our murder weapon. Isn't science just amazing?" Ema explained.

"That was amazing Ms. Skye!" Fuuka said. "Thank you for teaching us all that."

"Why thank you." Ema said happily at the girl's polite comment. "Anyway I guess that about wraps up this scene, unless anyone has any suggestions?" Ema asked.

"Are we even sure this is the scene of the crime?" Makoto stated. Everyone turned to face the blue haired boy, as he himself began to ponder. "I mean... we just found them in here. It's always possible the victim was murdered somewhere else right?"

"That is a very good point," Akihiko added. "I mean if our friends really did the murder here, why would they let themselves go to sleep right at the scene of the crime? I know Shinjiro and while he can be a real bonehead at times, he wouldn't do something that stupid,"

Ema pondered the thought. That was a decent argument. No sensible person capable of murder, would be dumb enough to fall asleep at the scene of the crime, where they committed the act.

"Those are some real good points you guys bring up. I have an idea, why don't we spray the whole area for luminol? We can see if we get any more blood stain reactions from any other residual. That way we can see if this is really the scene of the crime or not," Ema stated.

"But what about the other evidence? Wouldn't they be affected by the spray and possibly tamper with them?" Rise asked. Ema shook her head for a no.

"Like I said before, before I arrived, officers who were already on the scene, tested the evidence and among the test were for fingerprints. They already have people back at forensics analyzing them to see if any fingerprints were on them. They also took extensive data, notes, and photos of the area, and even a 3D scan with a laptop. Needless to say, as long as we're careful, we can interact with the evidence with no problems at this point. Plus maybe the bento box or the knitting stuff might have blood on them, so we can test for that," Ema explained.

"Very impressive Ms. Skye. You are certainly very knowledgeable about this subject." Mitsuru said, impressed.

"What can I say? I was a girl who studied and wanted to become a forensics scientist, but couldn't make it, and had to take on the role of detective duty instead. It's what it is," Ema stated quietly. They all suddenly felt a change in atmosphere, as Ema's face was not smiling as wide it was before.

"I apologize Ms. Skye. I wasn't aware," Mitsuru stated, as she didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

"It's not a big deal. You all didn't know about it till I just said it. Anyway why don't we spray the whole room? Let's check for any more blood residual reactions," Ema said happily, trying to bring the mood back up.

After a lot of spraying was done, and when Ema was convinced the whole room was covered with luminol, she soon closed the garage doors and turned off the lights once more. No other blood stained reactions were found, except on one particular object that Ema made sure to take a photo off.

"The only other thing that has a blood stain is... the dolly," Fuuka stated in a curious tone. Soon the lights were switched back on, as Makoto had a smirk on his face.

"I'm starting to see why he whispered that information to me earlier," Makoto said.

"Oh yeah. I saw both of them whisper something to you and to the other individual earlier," Ema replied, as she recalled seeing Shinjiro and Kanji whisper something to Makoto and Yu earlier, before they got dragged off by police officers. "What did they tell you guys?"

"Well I'll start. Shinjiro sempai told me that we should all investigate the gym at Themis Legal Academy besides the maintenance area over here. He said that area was connected to the crime somehow," Makoto said.

"Kanji told me, that we should access either his or Shinjiro sempai's email account for something very important regarding this case. Also the reason he and Shinjiro were out here was because someone took his knitting equipment," Yu said.

"Huh. So that explains the knitting equipment. Well we can definitely check out the gym... but do any of you know the passwords to get into their email accounts?" Ema asked. They all shook their heads for a no.

"Great Kanji. Tell us to go look into your email or another person's email account to find a clue. Real smart of you except you forgot to tell Yu your password!" Yosuke whined out loud, at Kanji's idea

"I have an idea. After we're done investigating the gym, we can visit them both at the Detention Center and find out from them then," Ema suggested.

"The Detention Center? Is that where they're being held at right now?" Yukari asked.

"Yes. In fact, here's what's going to be the rest of our game plan for today. After investigating the gym, I'll drive you guys to the Detention Center. I can get you guys into the Detention Center with my connections no problem so you guys can ask them anything you need to for any information or questions in general besides the password. Then after that I can take you guys to Mr. Wright's office and print out what was in that email there. We can also meet up with Mr. Wright or Apollo and Athena if they're there, and let them know what we found so far up to that point. Finally I can take you guys back to the Gatewater Hotel. Anyone want to say anything else before we move onto investigating the gym?" Ema explained.

"Well... I think we should check one more thing in this area before we proceed," Naoto stated. "I was thinking, if the culprit was here, they could have possibly used the incinerator nearby to possibly dispose of anything,"

They all turned to face the black incinerator that was right nearby the garage, and was currently off. They all walked and stopped in front of it. Ema made sure to check if the incinerator was absolutely off, to be on the safe side. She then took out two heat resistant gloves from her bag and put them on. She carefully checked the insides, to see if anything was in it. She surprisingly felt something metallic in there as she carefully gripped and pulled something out of the incinerator. It was what appeared to be a metallic key that was singed but not severely damaged.

"A silver key? What is it doing in an incinerator?" Yukari said.

"Not even that, how the heck did it not melt or anything?" Junpei added.

"Hmmm... I'm not sure why it's here but... the reason why it didn't melt or get severely damaged is due to it not being made of silver, but rather tungsten," Ema explained. They all gave her a confused look prompting Ema to explain. "Tungsten is a metal that is known for withstanding a very high amount of temperature compared to most metals. That's why this key didn't deform, melt, or get that damaged."

"So someone tried to get rid of a key?" Chie asked.

"But where is it from or what does it even unlock?" Yukiko added

"Is this even connected to our case? It can be some random key that someone threw in before the crime could have even happened," Rise said. Ema shrugged but decided to take a photo of the key just to be on the safe side. She then took out her cellphone and made a quick text to someone. She waited for a response, and soon got it, causing her to smirk. She placed the key back into the incinerator and soon sighed.

"Alright guys. I just put in a word for forensics to come by and pick up all of the evidence we looked at for more analysis, including this key. I think we've done everything we can here. Let's head to the gym," Ema suggested. They all walked after her, and soon found themselves in front of the gym doors. On their way there, they noticed how empty the academy was due to classes being canceled today. It felt a bit eerie for them.

"Well here we are. Let's take a look inside," Ema stated. She put on a new pair of latex gloves as she slowly opened the door. They went inside, but they really didn't notice any differences aside from two green tea bottles laid nearby the refrigerator.

"Why would Shinjiro have us look in the gym if nothing appears to have significantly changed?" Akihiko questioned.

"Maybe we just need another perspective." Mitsuru suggested. "Ms. Skye, do you still have luminol? We can use that to spray the area,"

Ema flashed a big grin as she went to grab a spray bottle of luminol from her bag to show to Mitsuru.

"I still have a lot left. But first we should analyze the room more in detail before we spray. Let me setup my laptop and do a 3D scan," as she put the luminol bottle back into her bag, before pulling out a small laptop.

"Man I don't know how you manage to fit so much stuff in that bag of yours," Chie said amazed at how Ema was carrying so much of her own equipment. Ema soon had her laptop up and running, and after some time has passed, scanned the entire area with her equipment, as well as snap a lot of photos of the scene.

"Now that's over with, let's press on. Something I noticed were those two green tea bottles. Why are they laid out over like that?" Ema said. They all walked over to the two green tea bottles that laid on the ground. Both bottles still had some liquid yet that luckily didn't dry up. Ema took a picture of both as she then opened the refrigerator and noticed it was completely empty.

"Didn't the refrigerator hold a lot more water and green tea bottles, when we were here with Juniper yesterday?" Akihiko recalled. They all nodded, as they remembered there being a lot more bottles of water and green tea, yet it was all empty for some reason. Ema hearing this, decided to take a picture of the inside of the refrigerator. She then took out two plastic bag and carefully placed each bottle inside one, as she sent another text to forensics.

"I'll have these bottles picked up for analysis and we'll see what's the deal with them. As well as finger print analysis on the area. For now let's get some luminol testing in," Ema suggested.

When the majority of the room reeked of luminol, Ema soon turned the lights to see if anything would glow blue, like the luminol reactions they had gotten in the maintenance area's garage. Sure enough, one of the blue mats on the ground glowed with a lot of blue. Ema began to snap photos at it, before she eventually turned the lights back on. She soon made another text to forensics to pick up that particular blue mat as well.

"It looks like... the murder scene wasn't at the maintenance area's garage, but it's looking like it was here at the gym in Themis Legal Academy instead. This is a hunch but I have a feeling that dolly we found earlier got a bit of blood on it, when the culprit moved the victim's body," Ema said. They all stayed silent, feeling a bit tense, considering they were in the room where someone was possibly murdered in. "Right I think we're done here, unless anyone has anything they want to check out or say?"

"Well... I remember that Juniper showed us the temperature device outside of the door, but I don't think that be relevant, would it?" Yukari said. They all left the gym to stare at the device. Ema shrugged and just took a picture of it and made for another text.

"You never know right? I'll have people overlook it as well. Anyway I think we're all done here. I'll drive you all to the Detention Center," Ema stated.

"All twelve of us, plus you are going to fit in a car?" Yosuke asked with skepticism.

"Well I actually drive a large van due to having to sometimes drive others or to bring a lot of science equipment for crime scenes," Ema stated. "So fitting you twelve shouldn't be that much of an issue. Anyway we really should get going. Visiting hours last for only so long at the Detention Center, so we should really go. That reminds me, I better call them to let them know we're coming and so I can set you guys a chance to talk to them," and with that she began to walk off while making a phone call to the Detention Center, as they all followed her.

* * *

><p>Kanji and Shinjiro were now both sitting in a room, in separate chairs, that had a very strong reinforced glass window that divided the middle, as on the other side, had where visitors would be. A security camera watched in a corner, and from the green door they entered in, a security guard waited outside in case of any trouble.<p>

"Why don't they believe us? I swear we didn't do it," Kanji whined, as he had sweat dripping on his face, from the nervousness he felt.

"Calm down. I have faith we'll make it out of this alright," Shinjiro said, trying to calm Kanji.

"I know but... it's hard. Heck I don't even know who's going to be even seeing us right now. Will it be that annoying Fulbright guy again?" Kanji whined.

Suddenly the door from the visitor's side opened and twelve very familiar faces entered, with relieved expressions on their faces.

"I'm so glad to see you all!" Kanji shouted in joy.

"Well it's about time. How did your investigations go?" Shinjiro asked. As soon as all the members of SEES and the Investigation Team, had gotten reacquainted, they explained everything they had done up to that point to Kanji and Shinjiro.

"Now we need to find out the password to one of your email accounts so we can find out what that clue is. Isn't that right Kanji?" Yu explained.

Kanji nodded as he was about to speak. But Shinjiro shook his head for a no, as he began to speak.

"Wait, before we do that, I think we should explain everything we know to you guys, so you can pass off that knowledge to our defense attorneys later. Kanji seeing how you got me involved in this, I think you should start," Shinjiro suggested. Kanji nodded embarrassingly as he couldn't deny that. As Kanji started to explain from his point of view, we go to focus outside the visitor's door where Ema stood. She was making a phone call to a certain attorney she worked with about a year ago, to see if he was at Mr. Wright's office yet, as it was now soon going to enter evening.

Apollo and Athena were laid out on two separate couches in the Wright Anything Agency's office, as they were out of breath. They promised they would make it back by tonight, and they did, and possibly a bit earlier then scheduled.

"Athena... I have never done so much running to make it to a bus before, when we had to run after it to catch a ride on," Apollo said, as he remembered they comically just missed a bus and chased after it for a while, only for it to finally stop at a red light.

"Well a little exercise never hurt anybody," Athena said trying to lighten the mood. Suddenly they both heard what sounded like Apollo's cell phone ringing. Apollo slowly picked it up, and was surprised at who the caller ID was. Instead of normally setting it to speaker, he just placed it near his ear.

"Hello? Apollo is that you?" Ema asked.

"Ema? What's the occasion for the call?" he said, as they haven't spoken in a while since the trials they worked on since last year.

"Well Mr. Wright asked me to do some things for him earlier today, and I was wondering if you and the new attorney Athena are back at the office yet?" Ema asked.

"We are. Also before you ask, Mr. Wright isn't here yet. I think he's still busy with his meeting," Apollo asked, wondering how long Mr. Wright was taking.

"That's fine. Mr. Wright also told me, you two would be handling this case. I'm going to be coming by soon later with friends of the defendants to help prep you for the trial tomorrow. I'll see you then," and with that their phone conversation ended. Apollo sighed while Athena got off the couch.

"I think we should get dressed in our lawyer attire soon. I'll go change first," as Athena picked up a bag and headed to the office's bathroom, leaving Apollo a chance to ponder as was still resting.

"I wonder what kind of case I'll be dealing with this time," Apollo mused.

* * *

><p>We go back to the Detention Center, as the rest of SEES and the Investigation Team were all in a thinking position, after hearing everything Kanji and Shinjiro told them.<p>

"So let me understand this so far. When you both got to the gym, you two were trapped when the door leading in and out of the gym was barred by something outside. So after that, you two felt the room was heating up, so you went to the fridge and found two green tea bottles. After you two drank the two green tea bottles, you both fell asleep right after and ended up waking up at the garage in the maintenance area later on?" Makoto asked. Both nodded, as they recalled that.

"Maybe... the culprit used the temperature device to make them want go drink the two green tea bottles in the refrigerator, that had something in them that made them fall asleep fast?" Fuuka suggested.

"Someone really thought this through," Naoto stated.

"But what would cause them both just to fall asleep like that though?" Junpei asked.

"Well whenever I was sick, a brand of cold medicine I take from over the counter, would usually put me to sleep right after," Rise suggested. "Maybe it was something like that?"

"One thing's for sure, we'll find out what was inside those bottles during the trial tomorrow with Ms. Skye and forensics doing their analysis of those two green bottles," Mitsuru suggested.

"We should focus our attention for now on that email password and that clue. What the heck is that clue anyway?" Chie said.

"Well the clue is a picture of the note I got, I talked about earlier, before we went to Themis Legal Academy and is no longer on me. Shinjiro sempai suggested we take a picture of it just to be on the safe side, and now that it's no longer on me... well I guess he's right," Kanji said, feeling sheepish that he forgot to tell Yu his password earlier. Shinjiro rolled his eyes at what he just heard.

"Anyway... Aki, I'll tell you my password for my email account, so make sure you remember alright?" Shinjiro stated. Akihiko nodded as he leaned closer to the glass window as Shinjiro did the same. He heard what Shinjiro whispered to him.

"Got it Shinji. No problems," Akihiko stated.

"Wait a minute... I just remembered something!" Yosuke proclaimed. They all turned their attention to Yosuke, as he a had an embarrassed grin.

"I know we all said earlier that Mitsuo Kubo might be the culprit, but I finally remembered something that also points to him, after forgetting due to all the commotion earlier," Yosuke stated.

"What is it Yosuke?" Yu asked.

"When I woke up this morning, I saw Kubo sleeping in his bed and he was wearing black gloves. At the time I just thought it was the dude being weird but... if he really is the culprit maybe those black gloves he wore, was to help conceal his fingerprints from anything at the crime scene," Yosuke explained.

"But do you have proof of that to show in court tomorrow though?" Yukari asked.

"Well I do actually," Yosuke said with a big grin. "I took a video of him with my cell phone this morning because... he was saying some weird stuff in his sleep,"

"What kind of stuff?" Yukiko asked. Yosuke felt embarrassed as he recalled what Kubo kept droning on about in his sleep.

"I don't remember," Yosuke lied to not make things awkward. "But the point is, I have video footage of the guy in his bed with black gloves. When we're at Mr. Wright's place, besides printing out a photo of the note Kanji got, I can upload the video onto the computer and we can make backup files as evidence for tomorrow's trial,"

"That's very resourceful of you Yosuke sempai," Naoto praised.

"What can I say? I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Junes's best employee!" Yosuke bragged. Suddenly they heard a knock come from the visitor's door.

"Are you guys done yet? Not to rush you, but we do have to stop by Mr. Wright's office eventually," Ema said loudly from outside the door.

"I think that about covers it. We all told them our side of the story, and they told us theirs. Unless anyone has any objections?" Makoto asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Then I guess it's decided. Tomorrow we'll settle this in court,"

They all said their goodbyes and soon went with Ema, as she drove them towards the Wright Anything Agency. They soon all found themselves outside the door of Mr. Wright's office. Ema knocked on it, making sure if anyone was inside.

"Come in!" shouted a energetic female voice. They all entered and saw Apollo and Athena. Apollo was now wearing his trademark red vest and was dressed in his usual lawyer attire. Athena was wearing her lawyer attire with her trademark yellow jacket she loved.

"Apollo, nice to see you again!" Ema said with a happy smile, as she hugged the attorney, who returned it. "Athena, nice to finally meet you!" as the two women shook hands. "The twelve high school students you see here are friends of the defendants. Why don't you two introduce yourselves to them?"

"I'm Apollo Justice. I've been working under Mr. Wright for at least a year so far and have some serious chords of steel. Nice to meet you all," Apollo said with confidence.

"I'm Athena Cykes! I joined earlier this year, but let me tell you, I have a lot of heart and a prowess in analytical psychology. Don't underestimate me!" she shouted with enthusiasm as she struck a victory pose with her hands. Soon the members of SEES and the Investigation Team began to greet back to both defense attorneys, but then both Apollo and Athena realized something awkward, as they both had an annoyed expression on their faces.

"Umm Ema? We don't speak or understand Japanese," Apollo said. Ema had an embarrassed expression on her face. She had forgotten that the police personnel got translation earpieces, since the murder victim was from overseas, seeing how they might deal with foreign individuals in the case. She reached into her bag and pulled out two translation earpieces, and gave one each to Apollo and Athena.

"Sorry about that. I forgot people connected to the school or case got them, but you guys only got involved now. You two should be able to understand them with no problems from this point on," Ema explained. Apollo and Athena put their translation earpieces on turned it on, and soon both SEES and the Investigation Team repeated their greetings.

"OK now I understand you guys. Alright what's the story?" Apollo asked. Soon Ema and the two groups explained everything they knew to both Apollo and Athena, who were needless to say pretty taken back. Both attorneys made sure to write down all the information they heard, as they listened.

"Wow. This sounds pretty crazy from what we heard so far. But we've dealt with crazier trials in the past so we can definitely handle this," Athena said.

"Yep. We can definitely handle this." Apollo said, trying to reassure them all.

"Also, we need to use your computer to print something and transfer something. Do you mind?" Ema asked.

"Go right ahead. If this results in more evidence we can use for the trial tomorrow, then I'm all for it," Apollo said. Both Akihiko and Yosuke went to the computer on the desk in the room, and turned it on. Soon Akihiko got on Shinjiro's email account with the password being "Castor," and soon printed out a photo of the note that Kanji was given. Yosuke got on after, and using a USB wire, connected his cell phone onto the PC. He then made a backup of the video, on the PC itself, on his email account, and finally on a blue USB drive that laid around, that he asked for permission to use, before handing it over to Ema Skye.

"Alright, I think we're all set. Don't worry you guys. Me and Apollo are going to stay up all tonight, to review all details you've given us," Athena said to assure them.

"Thank you so much. Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes. We are truly in your debt," Mitsuru stated.

"It's nothing. We're just doing what we have to do. Anyway does anyone have anything else they want to say before you guys go back? Apollo said. Silence all filled the air, as they all looked at each other, unsure if anything more needed to be said. Suddenly Ema recalled one more detail.

"Oh yeah. I told Mr. Wright this earlier as well, so I should definitely tell you both," Ema said. "The prosecutor for this trial is going to be that fop, Klavier Gavin,"

"So Mr. Gavin is prosecuting this trial?" Athena asked. Ema nodded to what Athena just said.

"That's fine. I rather face off with him then the jailbird," Apollo remarked causing the members of SEES and the Investigation Team to wonder who they meant by jailbird. Suddenly Rise came to a realization of something.

"Wait... Klavier Gavin? I think I know who he is," Rise said.

"How do you know about a prosecutor who works in the United States, Rise?" Naoto asked.

"Mr. Gavin runs his own rock band that's pretty successful besides being a prosecutor." Rise recalled. "I remember when I toured in Japan when I was still an idol, I've had some shows with him when he went overseas for some shows in Japan,"

"Wow. A prosecutor who is also a rock star in his free time. That's pretty nuts," Junpei stated.

"Well I heard after some court case last year, he decided to focus more on his prosecuting career over his band," Rise stated. Apollo and Ema both winced, as they were reminded of that trial that involved Klavier Gavin learning the truth about his brother, Kristoph Gavin being the cause of Mr. Wright's disbarment many years ago.

"I guess that's enough about Mr. Gavin then. Does anyone else have anything more to add?" Athena asked. Yosuke however had an idea in his head, due to reading up on a particular case from a magazine earlier this week.

"Hey Chie, Yukiko, and Rise? Can I talk to you three alone outside? I have an idea," Yosuke said with a big smirk. They nodded though everyone was confused why he said that. Soon Yosuke was outside the office with the three.

"What's up Yosuke?" Chie asked.

"I know this is going to sound crazy but... I want you three to make a lunch for tomorrow," Yosuke asked. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise had a surprised expression on their face.

"But why? I thought you considered our cooking... to be bad," Yukiko said.

"Yeah. Why would you want us three to make lunch if you think our food sucks, Yosuke?" Chie asked.

"I have my reasons. Look this is for Kanji's sake and Shinjiro's sempai's sake. Will you three please make a lunch for tomorrow?" Yosuke asked. The three looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure I guess. If it'll help save Kanji and Shinjiro sempai, then who am I to object?" Rise stated.

"Perfect! Anyway we should get back inside," Yosuke said. The four went back into the office, while the others were still just as confused. "Don't worry. I just wanted to clear something up regarding tomorrow,"

"Mind filling us in?" Akihiko asked, skeptical of the younger teenager.

"Nope. Can't say. Don't worry you'll all find out tomorrow," Yosuke said. Everyone else shrugged, unsure of how to react while Chie, Yukiko, and Rise looked at each other with concerned eyes. Apollo rolled his eyes, as he wasn't sure what this teenager was up to, but decided it was time for him and Athena to start reviewing all the evidence and information in more depth.

"Anyway I guess that about wraps it up. Ema thank you so much for everything and it's nice to see you again. Also thanks to you all for all the help. Like Athena said earlier, we're going to spend the whole night reviewing all the information and tomorrow we're going to defend Mr. Tatsumi and Mr. Aragaki with our best defense. We're going to be drinking a lot of coffee, so don't worry. You all can count on us," Apollo said for more reassurance.

"Agreed. Alright I'm going to take these guys back to the Gatewater Hotel they were all staying at. See you both tomorrow," Ema replied. Soon all of SEES and the Investigation Team said their farewells as well, as only Apollo and Athena were left in the office. As Ema was driving them back towards the hotel, as it was now night time, the car was filled with silence from everyone.

"I hope... everything turns out alright tomorrow," Fuuka said with a lot of concern.

"Don't worry. It will," Makoto quietly said to her with a confident smile, causing her to smile back.

"If anyone can save them both, it's those two," Yu stated. Both leaders of their respective teams were impressed by what they saw back there. Who better then then the proteges of the famous defense attorney, Phoenix Wright, as defense attorneys aside from Mr. Wright himself? Back at the Wright Anything Agency in Mr. Wright's office, Apollo was overlooking various notes and pictures along with Athena, as they both had coffee mugs filled to the brim with the liquid, nearby them, occasionally taking a drink from it.

"So do you want to take the lead tomorrow? Considering this case also involves Themis Legal Academy and Juniper again?" Apollo asked. Athena stopped to take a look at Apollo with concerned eyes.

"That's... a good question. I don't know. To be honest... I think I be more comfortable with you leading for this trial. After all you have more experience. Plus I haven't heard your chords of steel in a while," Athena stated.

"Well if that's how you feel. It's been a while since I took a case anyway. Alright world, during tomorrow's trial, here comes justice!" Apollo yelled out with a very loud tone which Athena smiled at, as they both continued to review information and drink coffee throughout the night.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>Man things are about to really heat up next chapter. The courtroom showdown at last. A couple of notes as always.<br>**

**1. I had Ema call Phoenix in Chapter 3 to help setup for her appearance in this chapter. Seeing how Ema doesn't show up in Dual Destinies for whatever reason, I thought I would need to setup her getting involved somehow.**

**2. Shinjiro's password is a little reference for anyone who's aware of what his Persona is (though you probably already know).**

**3. It's soon time for Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes to have more of a role, so fans of those characters, be ready.**

**4. One more note I originally didn't have up I wanted to discuss. The news reporter at the scene was a character I wanted to reference from the original Ace Attorney, though I dunno if news reporter is really the profession she have in the future, if she was more of a photographer before.**

**Well that about wraps it up. Like I said before, if you have any opinions, concerns, thoughts, criticisms, and such, don't be afraid to voice them. Otherwise, I'm glad you guys are reading this. I can't guarantee the next chapter will come soon though (I got some priorities to handle soon), but hopefully around two weeks. We'll see. Anyway till the next chapter and good luck with your own stuff as always!**


	6. Trading a Rock Star For a Jailbird

**Holy crap. I am really blazing with the chapters now. Maybe this story won't take to the end of the month to finish. We'll see. Anyway as usual, I hope you all are enjoying this story. Like always, if you got something to say, don't be afraid to say it. I'm all ears. Enjoy guys!**

* * *

><p>Apollo and Athena were in the courtroom lobby with their clients. Kanji looked like he was ready to sweat his blonde bleached hair out, while Shinjiro who was still missing his cap, quietly ruffled his hair with his hands trying to pass the time. Despite the two attorneys talking to them earlier, trying to calm them down, they still couldn't still feel on edge. After all, they were about to be tried for a crime they didn't commit, that could potentially have them locked up in jail. Not exactly something anyone be easily calm for the possibility for.<p>

"I wonder where the boss is. He didn't show up at his office at all yesterday," Athena mused.

"I don't know. But I'm sure he's alright. I wonder what he say to us right now," Apollo replied. "Anyway... thankfully we had all that coffee in the office last night. We really got some good reviewing done on all the evidence and information. Are you raring to go Athena?"

She put on a huge smile and did a victory pose with her hands, and she then pounded her right fist into her left palm.

"You bet! I feel ready for another trial as always!" She exclaimed. Suddenly the doors that led into the courtroom lobby from a hallway outside opened, and it was all the members of SEES and the Investigation Team accompanied by Ema. Yosuke in particular was holding three bento boxes, made due to Chie, Yukiko, and Rise's effort. The huge group quickly got reacquainted.

"Good to see you all again. I guess you all will be watching from the gallery during the trial?" Apollo asked. They all nodded to what he said.

"Don't worry guys. We're not going to let them fall. We are going to save them," Athena proclaimed, trying to bring the mood up more.

"I came to let you know, that analysis on some of the evidence collected is still not fully done yet unfortunately," Ema stated. "But forensics said they should be done sometime today, so hopefully we'll see everything cleared up."

"Well better I know that now then later," Apollo said. "I admit it kind of sucks though, but we'll have to make do. Have you heard from Mr. Wright at all? Athena and I didn't see him at all last night,"

Ema shook her head for a no. Apollo turned and faced the students for the off chance, any of them made any contact with Mr. Wright at all. They all had a similar answer to Ema, and this caused both of Apollo and Athena to feel even more concerned. Suddenly they all heard the door to the courtroom lobby open, and they all turned to it, wondering if it was possibly Mr. Wright. Instead it turned out to be the rival prosecutor that would soon be facing off against Apollo and Athena.

"Well if it isn't Herr Forehead. You are quite popular today, aren't you with all the guests?" teased the individual. He wore a purple jacket over a dark purple shirt, had a chain necklace that had a big stylized "G," to represent the name of his former band, blonde hair and blue eyes, ear piercings accompanied by one translation earpiece, and black pants and shoes.

"Prosecutor Gavin!?" Apollo said surprised. "You don't normally see me like this before we're about to face off. What brings you here and can you stop calling me Herr Forehead? I'm still not a fan of that nickname you have for me!"

"I figure I just say hi and see how my hot headed rival is. It's been a while since we faced off in court like this hasn't it? Just trying to offer my fellow attorney an appropriate greeting." Klavier responded. Apollo just sighed from what he just heard, Ema rolled her eyes, and Athena was wondering if Apollo and Klavier would ever stop with their little rivalry. Rise however immediately waved to the prosecutor.

"Mr. Gavin! It's me Rise. Do you remember me?" she asked. Klavier looked towards the girl and then quickly smiled.

"Ah yes. I remember a while back, we performed in Japan during some shows. I'm surprised to be seeing you here of all places. What brings you here to see Herr Forehead's trial?" Klavier responded.

"The two defendants are people I'm close with. I'm here to give my support as well as everyone else here," Rise explained.

"Is that so? I hope the truth we discover today leads to them being innocent then." Klavier said. "All I want is for the real truth to emerge, so let's hope that's what ends up happening. Anyway I best be on my way. I have to go purchase a quick snack, so I'm not famished during the trial."

So far, everyone's expressions on them relaxed. They were glad with what they just heard. Yosuke however gulped as he felt guilty for what he was about to do, as his plan relied on them seeing the prosecutor before the trial. As Klavier was leaving the room, Yosuke suddenly called for him.

"Prosecutor Gavin! Umm... we made some extra lunches and we all are full so do you want them?" Yosuke said. Everyone else but Klavier turned to stare at the teen confused. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise in particular were wondering why he was offering their terribly made lunches to the prosecutor.

"Why thank you. I was feeling rather famished since I had to focus on reviewing this case, earlier. I'll appreciate this," Klavier said with a smile as he took the three bento boxes. Apollo and Athena could only raise their eyebrows and wonder what that was about. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise suddenly had a glint in their eyes, as they realized what Yosuke was possibly thinking of. Before they could accuse Yosuke of what they wanted to say, the doors leading to the courtroom lobby opened up once more, as another entered the room.

"Well I wish I got a free lunch. Sorry I'm late. I'm not going to leave any of you hanging," said a very familiar voice, as he walked into the room. Everyone's attention turned to the source of the voice, as everyone had a smile upon their faces. Even Chie, Yukiko and Rise who were about to question Yosuke, turned their attention to who it was.

"**MR. WRIGHT!**" everyone shouted, as they crowded the man. He sighed as a small but concerned smile appeared on his face.

"Alright let's all settle down. Apollo, Athena, and Ema, you three are probably wondering if I were ever coming back from my meeting. We had a lot to discuss. Besides what I had to originally see them for, we had to discuss the incident that just occurred yesterday. Needless to say it was a legal nightmare," Phoenix explained. "We practically took the whole day. When we finally finished, it was really late so I opted to head home to rest. But I'm here now and I see that you all have the situation under control,"

"Well we're glad to see you. Just having you around always boosts my confidence boss," Athena stated. Phoenix just smiled at what he heard.

"For me, having you around always boosts my mood. Really glad to see you again Mr. Wright," Ema said.

"Same Ema. How did your investigation go anyway yesterday? Did you bring these teenagers with you?" Phoenix said.

"The investigation went really well and yes I did bring them. You were right. They were definitely a huge boost to the investigation yesterday. Sorry for doubting you Mr. Wright," Ema replied.

"It's not a big deal. I can understand as well. I thought it was a bit crazy myself, but my gut was telling me to do it. Good to see it's right in this case though," Phoenix said.

"Mr. Wright, will you be watching the trial as well?" Mitsuru asked.

"Yep. I'll also be in the gallery. Got to keep tabs on the situation after all and see how my proteges do. Anyway we're about to start soon. I'll see you guys later in the courtroom," and with that Phoenix left the room, but not before saying his goodbyes.

"I should get going soon. I'm going to continue checking out the maintenance area's garage and the gym at Themis Legal Academy for more clues, with forensics," Ema stated. "I'll let you guys know via a phone call or whatever if I find anything. Also... Detective Fulbright should be able to give an overview of the situation so I shouldn't be needed to testify but you never know. Good luck guys,"

With that, they all said their good byes to Ema as she left. Apollo and Athena turned to face their two defendants.

"Don't worry. Mr. Tatsumi, and Mr. Aragaki. We'll prove you two didn't do it," Athena said to the two. Kanji and Shinjiro both nodded, feeling a little more at ease compared to before.

"Well with that guy as prosecutor, I feel a load has been taken off me. Like maybe I won't get sentenced to prison and all," Kanji said feeling more relieved.

"Yeah. With someone respectable like him as your opponent, I can safely say, that this trial should go smoothly hopefully," Shinjiro said, really impressed by Mr. Gavin. Apollo turned to face the rest of SEES and the Investigation Team.

"Alright guys. The trial is soon going to start. You should all get to the gallery. Look out world, here comes justice!" Apollo proclaimed.

* * *

><p>A large courtroom was soon seen. The whole gallery was filled with the students of Gekkoukan High and Yasogami High students. One Yasogami High student in particular, was smirking viciously as he sat among them. Ms. Toriumi was sitting besides SEES and the Investigation Team as she looked around. The atmosphere and even the lighting in the courtroom seemed a lot darker compared to the courtroom she used to see Mr. Wright have his old showdowns in. Phoenix himself was also in the gallery as he surveyed the scene. An old bald man with a large big bush gray beard and facial hair was serving as the judge, as he wore the judge's gown, a translation earpiece, and held a brown wooden gavel. Kanji and Shinjiro were sitting at the defendant's booth as they looked around, feeling the tension once again growing within them, while Apollo and Athena were situated at the bench for the defense, while the bench for the prosecutor's side was still empty. Discussion and rabble was heard as everyone in the gallery except SEES, the Investigation Team, as well as Ms. Toriumi and Mr. Wright speculated. Soon the judge began to ask for everyone to rise and for them to sit back down, as he began to pound his gavel for no more noise to be present.<p>

"Court is now in session for the trial of Kanji Tatsumi and Shinjiro Aragaki." the judge stated.

"Apollo Justice. Defense team leader is ready to defend your honor!" Apollo shouted.

"Athena Cykes, defense team assistant, ready to help out your honor!" Athena said enthusiastically.

"Good to see the defense is ready. Is the prosecution ready?" the judge asked. However no reply ever came as the prosecutor's bench remained empty. "This is odd. Where is Mr. Gavin?"

Detective Fulbright entered the room, just as the judge said those words, as he walked up to the front as he had something to announce.

"Everyone listen up! It seems that Mr. Gavin has fallen ill and is not in the condition to prosecute," Fulbright announced. Everyone in the gallery began to speak at what that could possibly mean, while Apollo and Athena looked at each other confused. Chie, Yukiko, and Rise all turned their attention to Yosuke, realizing for sure why he had them make their terrible lunches earlier.

Yosuke in particular had a guilty but small grin on his face. He read in a legal magazine, how if the prosecution wasn't present, they could either delay the trial, thus giving them all more time to investigate. Furthermore he also read about one particular case from the legal magazines he's been reading, where a judge was about to give the verdict to the defense, due to the prosecutor not being present in the beginning, making the judge believe the prosecution had no confidence in their case. However the prosecutor for that trial's first day, managed to show up and thus it did proceed. Maybe it play out differently this time, possibly having them win the case automatically.

"Quiet down everyone," Fulbright asked. "But... the trial will still be proceeding. I had made arrangements and a replacement prosecutor has been assigned and is making his way here,"

"A replacement prosecutor?" the judge asked. "Who is it?"

"Prosecutor Blackquill. I spoke to him earlier in his prison cell after finding out about Mr. Gavin's condition. He said he couldn't resist facing off against Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes again," Fulbright proclaimed. Athena and Apollo's expressions immediately went from confusion to one of pain as soon as they heard that. Phoenix's expression became one of more concern, while everyone else in the gallery were just confused, as they were not familiar with this person at all, and the fact this guy was apparently coming from his prison cell which implied a lot of things.

"Prosecutor Blackquill? Who's that?" Yukari asked feeling uneasy.

Soon the doors opened and they all saw a man in chains being led into the room by two police officers. Needless to say, no one except those already familiar with the man was prepared for who they saw. A man wearing attire with a black and white motif entered, he had black hair with a tuft of white in the front. He was wearing a black suit and black vest with bits of whites all over, black pants and boots, black metallic chains connected by his wrists, and a translation earpiece. He was Simon Blackquill, known as the "Twisted Samurai," for his appearance and use of psychology in court. A prosecutor who was convicted for the UR-1 Incident, and was a very daunting individual. Yosuke was starting to regret his plan as the rest of SEES and the Investigation Team looked at him with either confused or annoyed expressions. Soon Blackquill was over by the prosecutor's bench with a big smirk on his face.

"Has the prosecution been briefed on the details?" the judge asked with a bit of nervousness present in his voice, as he knew Blackquill was a very intimidating individual.

"Tch. Not particularly your baldness." Blackquill said, everyone in the gallery already noting how this prosecutor had no fear of insulting the judge like that. "Fool Bright, just told me they needed a replacement and I obliged due to who my opponents were. But I'm sure I can make do," Blackquill stated. Ms. Toriumi was wondering if they were seriously letting this man get away with having just insulted the judge and detective with no repercussions.

"Very well. Normally we have the prosecution do the opening statement, but I suppose I actually will have to do it this time." the judge stated as he began to summarize the situation. After the judge was done, Blackquill who had his eyes closed and was taking all the information in, nodded.

"I see. Seems to be a pretty open and shut case to me. Two stupid scamps for whatever reason decided to fall into doing murder. I look forward to see what they bring to the clink once this trial is over," Blackquill said with dark humor.

"Hey! We did not murder King Mo... err Mr. Morooka you big-" but before Kanji could finish, Blackquill slammed his left hand on the prosecution's bench, causing Kanji to shut up and whimper as the prosecutor glared at him and Shinjiro. Shinjiro just glared back, as he didn't feel intimidated but he still wished that Mr. Gavin would have been prosecuting instead, from what he saw of the man earlier. The rest of SEES and the Investigation Team could not help but think, this was going to be a very long day, while Apollo and Athena couldn't help but cringe. Ms. Toriumi couldn't help but wonder why they were allowing a criminal prosecute of all things.

"Enough jabbering. Fool Bright, come testify and tell us what you know," Blackquill stated. The detective soon came up on the witness stand ready to give testimony.

"Of course. In justice we trust! Let's start. Yesterday morning a body was found in Themis Legal Academy's garage in the maintenance area. Two students of Themis Legal Academy opened the garage up and found the two defendant's sleeping at the scene along with the dead body. The murder weapon has been determined to be a baseball bat that was also on the scene with blood found on the tip," Fulbright explained so far.

"Do you have an autopsy report?" Apollo asked, as he realized he and Athena never got one regarding the victim's death. Fulbright nodded as he took out two files. Prosecutor Blackquill immediately whistled, as a certain bird cry soon entered the room. A brown hawk wearing a black and white scarf grabbed one of the files and then dropped it in front of Athena and Apollo, and it soon did the same for the other remaining one for Blackquill, before perching itself, on Blackquill's right shoulder. The gallery began to speak again, surprised at the presence of the animal.

"Hey! You can't have pets in the courtroom!... Can you?" Junpei shouted out, wondering why not only a prosecutor in chains of all things was serving, but was allowed to have a pet hawk on him. Prosecutor Blackquill gave a signal to his pet hawk, and had it quickly grab Junpei's baseball cap, causing the teen to get angry before Ms. Toriumi told him to calm down as she really didn't want to get on this person's bad side. The hawk then placed the cap onto the judge, who just looked bewildered.

"Ha. Now your baldness looks better thanks to your assistance Taka," Blackquill said to praise his pet hawk, who perched itself again on Blackquill's right shoulder. Yukari tried to comfort Junpei who looked like he really wanted his cap back, while the judge decided to wear the cap for now.

"Getting back onto subject, let's quickly overlook this autopsy report," Athena suggested. "The victim died due to blunt wounds. Death belived to have occurred sometime on November 4th or November 5th. Believed to be bludgeoned to death,"

"Good to see everyone is more updated on the situation," Fulbright exclaimed. "However I had received some updates from Ms. Skye recently. It does seem that the actual murder scene was actually at the school's gym rather than the maintenance area's garage. A large amount of blood was confirmed to have been found in the gym on the gym mats. Some blood was also found to have been on a dolly, so it's currently believed the defendant's transferred the victim from the gym to the maintenance area's garage," Fulbright explained.

"And that is where they were found. Perhaps the exhaustion of their crimes, combined with their sin of murder, led them to close their eyes and find relief with sleep in there," Blackquill mused. "Regardless, this case seems crystal clear and does not need to be elaborated on. Your baldness, the verdict please,"

Everyone in the gallery were shocked with what they just heard. The prosecutor was already asking for the verdict despite no other witnesses or evidence were even called into question.

"Hold it!" shouted Athena. "If you think you can influence the judge this early for a guilty verdict, you're sadly mistaken!"

"Is that so Cykes-dono?" Blackquill said as he was a fan of using Japanese honorifics despite being British. "I already have him wearing some scamp's meager cap. What have you done to sway his opinion so far?"

Junpei mumbled curses under his breath while the rest of SEES and the Investigation Team gulped. This prosecutor was not one to hold his tongue back, and was definitely going to be a tough opponent to best in this battle of logic.

"We still have witness testimony and evidence to go over." Apollo stated. "Prosecutor Blackquill, this trial won't go your way,"

"We'll see about that Justice-dono. Very well then. I call for a half hour recess where I can go over all the evidence we have so far and speak with the witnesses, your baldness," Blackquill stated.

"Very well. I shall honor the prosecution's request. We'll take a half hour recess before we reconvene," the judge stated before he slammed his gavel.

* * *

><p>The room soon began to disperse as everyone began to leave. We soon see Apollo and Athena with Kanji and Shinjiro back in the courtroom lobby. Soon the other members of SEES and the Investigation Team entered. Yosuke in particular was being dragged in, with Chie pulling his ear, as she looked irritated.<p>

"Man why did we have to get that jerk of a prosecutor!" Kanji shouted. "What are the chances the day I get a laid back nice guy who wants to only find the truth to be the prosecutor for a trial I'm in, only for him to get sick and to be replaced by a guy wearing prison chains of all things!?"

"Hmmm... I wonder. Maybe Yosuke would know," Yukiko said in a disapproving tone. Everyone turned to face the teenager who had a really embarrassed smile on his face.

"Umm... that would be my bad," Yosuke stated meekly. "Those lunches that Chie, Yukiko, and Rise made? Turns out that maybe Mr. Gavin's stomach didn't agree with it possibly,"

"You knew our cooking was bad yet you gave it to Mr. Gavin!? Why Yosuke sempai?" Rise asked annoyed.

"Because I thought it delay the trial or possibly have Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes win by default. How was I suppose to know they replace Mr. Gavin with that prisoner guy with a pet hawk?" Yosuke replied. Everyone just had an annoyed or sad expression on their face as they really couldn't believe what just they just heard. Shinjiro looked like he was itching to find a bludgeon and actually commit a real crime from what he heard, while Kanji had hands all over his face as he just couldn't believe what he just heard as well.

"Is Blackquill the jailbird you were referring to last night, Mr. Justice?" Makoto asked, remembering he said he rather deal with Mr. Gavin over a jailbird. Apollo nodded sadly as he looked at Yosuke with extreme disappointment.

"Is that why... I'm facing off against Blackquill... because of you?" Apollo said, with a really exasperated expression. Yosuke weakly nodded, as Apollo walked over to a nearby wall and just rested his head against it, trying to calm down.

"What's done is done Apollo. You and me have beaten him before once, we can definitely do it again," Athena said trying to cheer up her partner, as she recalled the trial that involved the murder in two towns called Nine-Tails Vale and Tenma Town, along with the first incident at Themis Legal Academy last month. She also recalled how she supported Mr. Wright facing off against Blackquill during the incident involving Shipshape Aquarium earlier this summer as well.

"I know but... why does crazy stuff always happen to me in the courtroom?" Apollo whimpered comically.

"Damn that Blackquill!" Junpei proclaimed as he was still missing his baseball cap. "He thinks he can bully everyone around like he owns the courtroom. What is that guy's deal?"

"Prosecutor Blackquill... what is that man's back story? Why is he allowed to prosecute?" Naoto asked with a lot of curiosity, considering having someone like him prosecute was highly unusual.

"From what I know, he's a prosecutor who was convicted of a crime many years ago, and starting earlier this year was allowed to prosecute. Athena, Mr. Wright, and myself have all faced off against him at least once, earlier this year. He's also known as the "Twisted Samurai," as he specializes in psychology and can easily manipulate people to talk in a way he wants. As for why he's allowed to prosecute recently, I have no clue," Apollo said. Athena on the other hand remained silent and looked uneasy, as she didn't want to discuss what she knew. Some members of both SEES and the Investigation Team noticed her silence but remained silent.

"So that guy is a legit criminal and they're letting him serve as a prosecutor? That's crazy. Junpei I agree with you on something for once. That guy is a legit bully as well," Yukari said, wondering why they were letting a criminal prosecute.

"I know. Seriously why did he have to take my baseball cap and have the judge of all people wear it?" Junpei whined.

"Makes you wonder what the truth behind him really is," Yu mused as this individual was definitely up there on his unique individuals list.

"This opponent is one that needs to be bested in logic. As long as everything makes sense, everything will be fine," Akihiko stated. "But damn... I'm not going to lie, I'm more concerned now. Kanji... Shinji... you two do your best out there,"

"I'll try. Hopefully that jerk prosecutor won't send his hawk to peck at me," Kanji said trying to sound tough, but instead felt like he was ready to give up.

"Eh. That guy isn't a big deal. I've dealt with worse." Shinjiro joked trying to lighten the mood.

"This is serious. This is unlike... anything we've ever dealt with before." Mitsuru said, choosing her words carefully considering the company she was with. "If you two are found guilty, then this means a lot of bad implications for you two and in general. I'm really concerned Shinjiro,"

"Yeah I know. I know what you're talking about," Shinjiro said catching what Mitsuru also meant, in regards to their duty back in Tatsumi Port Island. "I got to admit, I never would have seen this coming and that's saying something considering what we deal with back home,"

"What do you mean?" Yukiko asked.

"It's complicated," Makoto answered plain and simply for Shinjiro. The Investigation Team figured by that answer, they shouldn't press on while Apollo and Athena looked at each other confused.

"Well I say the same for you Kanji. Not only would we lose two great people for crimes they didn't commit, we lose a valuable member of the Investigation Team and for our friends from Tastumi Port Island, a member of SEES," Naoto stated. Kanji hearing this blushed, and then he immediately perked up.

"You're right Naoto! I need to be ready and brave for what lies ahead. No way am I letting that jailbird keep me down in the clink with him!" Kanjji shouted.

"That's the spirit. Don't let Blackquill get you down. If we stay positive, we can definitely win this," Chie shouted, as she finally decided to let go of Yosuke's ear, to the relieved teenager's relief.

"Yeah. I bet that guy is all talk. Plus he's in chains. It's not like he's going to bust out of them or anything right?" Yosuke joked to lighten the mood. Apollo and Athena immediately looked at each other and gulped, as they hoped that didn't happen, due to experience telling them, that was an occurrence that could and did happen.

"Oh yeah. He is in chains. That "Twisted Samurai," is so not going to be doing anything crazy I hope aside from that ordering that pet hawk of his. Plus that whole samurai motif thing he's going for is so lame as well. It's not like he can do any cool blade techniques with a sword or with his hands or something," Junpei said. Apollo and Athena looked at each once more and gulped. If Blackquill broke out of his chains this trial, they hoped the only thing he be slicing off be the air or hair at most, like previous trials.

"Why do they let him use a hawk in court anyway? Is that not prohibited?" Yukari asked.

"I really don't know. Though while a hawk in court is weird, I've heard stories about a prosecutor who was allowed to use a whip in court, and whipped Mr. Wright, the judge, or sometimes the witnesses during it. I've also heard stories about another prosecutor who was allowed to throw coffee mugs filled with hot coffee at Mr. Wright during their trials," Apollo replied.

"The legal world is one that is truly crazy sometimes, even if it tries to enforce the rules for everyone." Athena said. Everyone else sighed. Needless to say, being an attorney was a profession they really probably weren't going to get into now if they had to deal with situations and people like that.

"Well as long as he doesn't actually sic his pet hawk on people, I think we're good," Akihiko said. Apollo and Athena were now tempted to believe these kids had powers that allowed them to guess stuff like this, so correctly. They were thinking somewhat correctly, if they only truly knew what SEES and the Investigation Team really did.

"The way Blackquill treats everyone is really rude," Rise said. "Nothing like Mr. Gavin who's so nice. I wonder if Blackquill was always like that?"

Athena in particular felt really awkward once more as she turned to face away from everyone. Everyone noticed but remained silent, as they figured for some reason she reacted that way. Athena sighed as she put up a smile and put a victory pose.

"Don't worry. I was just... thinking about something. Anyway we should really get ready. We can definitely face off against him. Prosecutor Blackquill is about to learn what Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes are made off once more!" Athena said, trying to get them to not notice her reaction to what she heard. Soon both SEES and the Investigation Team left the room, as the trial was about to restart soon but both Fuuka and Rise looked concerned, as both girls were speaking to their respective groups as they walked back. We'll start by looking at the Investigation Team's conversation.

"Ms. Cykes... it looks like she knows more about Blackquill then she's letting on," Rise said.

"Yes. I definitely noticed that." Naoto said quietly.

"Didn't Ms. Cykes also say she specialized in psychology?" Yosuke said

"Maybe their connection lies there," Chie said.

"Possibly but... I don't think it's our place to interfere with whatever the connection between those two are," Yukiko said.

"Yeah. I don't think we should get involved in that unfortunately. Right now we have to hope for Kanji and Shinjiro to be proven not guilty." Yu said. They all agreed. Right now they had to focus on the trial at hand. We now go to focus on SEES and the conversation they were having about it.

"Her heart is... hurting whenever Mr. Blackquill was brought up in that way," Fuuka said really concerned and sadly.

"Indeed. They definitely have a connection." Mitsuru stated, as she noticed how Athena reacted when Blackquill's past was ever brought up.

"Well they both use psychology right? Maybe they had the same psychology class or something?" Junpei suggested.

"I don't know. I get the feeling it's not that simple," Yukari said.

"Well we really can't do anything about that," Akihiko said. "I mean... that's not our place to get involved in is it?"

"No. Definitely not. Maybe after this trial is over, but we really can't at the moment," Makoto stated sounding a bit down. They had to worry about Kanji and Shinjiro not being found guilty, before they could do this. Everyone walked on ahead as they headed back to the gallery. In a bathroom, we see a certain Mitsuo Kubo grinning madly as he was washing his hands.

"Wow. This is going way better then I thought. That criminal prosecutor guy is definitely going to get those two sentenced in jail. To have things finally go my way, is amazing. Now they'll know how it feels to be alone and weak, when they're stuck in prison with the other criminals in a foreign country. Sucks to be them," he mumbled very quietly to himself. He soon left the room and headed back to the gallery, as this courtroom showdown was about to start again.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>Looks like Klavier is out for the count with our jailbird taking over for him. Woe as him. A couple of notes as always. <strong>

**1. So the cooking thing if anyone remembers is something that Chie, Yukiko, and Rise kind of still need to work on, if their skills in Persona 4 are anything to go by. Yosuke in this instance sought to use such cooking for a better future, only for it to backfire badly.**

**2. I threw in a reference to Franziska von Karma and Godot, anyone familiar with the Ace Attorney series will recognize the whip using and coffee throwing prosecutors of fame from the series.**

**3. Speaking of Yosuke, that case he's referencing refers to Day 1 of Bridge to the Turnabout from Trials and Tribulations, where the other judge considered giving the defense an instant victory due to the prosecutor having appeared to have not shown up, till someone did fill in just in time.**

**Anyway, next chapter the courtroom showdown continues. Like I said before, don't be afraid to speak your mind on anything. Till next chapter (who knows if it'll come fast or take a while, hopefully fast) and good luck with everything as usual!**


	7. Clash of Logical Swords-Part 1

**Hey guys! We're soon going to wrap up this. I can say with utmost confidence that Chapter 9 should be the final chapter. Chapter 7 and 8 are directly connected. Chapter 7 will be Part 1 as Chapter 8 will be Part 2 as it was way too long to keep them together. Enjoy the courtroom showdown! As always, anything you want to address or state, don't be afraid to do so. For either this, Chapter 8, or the story in general.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Apollo and Athena were back alone with Kanji and Shinjiro. Then tension in the room could be felt, as if it could be sliced with a knife. Kanji and Shinjiro were still looking uneasy while Apollo and Athena were overlooking evidence. Athena noticing the two's distress, decided to start a conversation.<p>

"So umm... how are you two? If you're nervous you guys can use the restroom to wash up or something," Athena said, trying to calm them down.

"It's alright. I really don't have to go," Shinjiro said.

"Yeah. The last time we went was yesterday when that lady detective asked for a urine sample. It was after she dropped off our friends and came back way later," Kanji replied.

"You mean Ema?" Apollo asked curious. They nodded as Apollo began to think why she would do that.

"She probably wanted a sample to compare to the stuff they drank from the green tea bottles," Athena answered for him. "If those bottles were really tampered with, they might be able to find traces of whatever was used against them, still from their bodies,"

"Wow. That's pretty smart," Apollo said. Suddenly two security guards entered the room, telling them it was time to go back. "OK then guys. Here goes justice again!"

"Let's do it!" Athena shouted enthusiastically as she made a victory pose, as they both walked with Kanji and Shinjiro back to the courtroom.

* * *

><p>The courtroom was full of noise again as everyone was back in it. Apollo and Athena stood at the bench for the defense, Blackquill stood behind the bench for the prosecution and now had a brown feather in his mouth, the gallery was filled with the students of both Gekkoukan High and Yasogami High once more, and Ms. Toriumi. Detective Fulbright was standing near the exit, to keep watch of the whole scene. Phoenix was nowhere to be seen though.<p>

"Ms Toriumi? Where's Mr. Wright? He was here watching before the break but now he's gone," Yukari asked to Ms. Toriumi.

"He told me he had to look into some things and will be back later." Ms. Toriumi responded quietly, as she herself was not sure where he went. Soon the judge was at his seat, as he overlooked the room from the elevated desk he was sitting at, while still wearing Junpei's baseball cap, began to bang his gavel once more, to signal for everyone to quiet down.

"We are now reconvening for the trial of Kanji Tatsumi and Shinjiro Aragaki. Prosecutor Blackquill, have you had sufficient time to review the evidence and to meet with the witnesses?" the judge asked.

"Yes your baldness. In fact I am ready to call my first witness," Blackquill replied. "I call Juniper Woods to the witness stand,"

Soon the student council president of Themis Legal Academy was on the stand. She felt a bit nervous being up there, considering she was on the stand before, from last month's incident.

"Name and occupation," Blackquill simply stated.

"I'm Juniper Woods. I'm a senior at Themis Legal Academy and also serve as the current student council president," Juniper said quietly.

"Say... weren't you from last month's-" but before the judge could finish, Blackquill slammed his left hand on the prosecutor's bench causing the judge to flinch.

"Irrelevant your baldness. Now speak your testimony of what you saw yesterday," Blackquill said.

"Okay. So yesterday I went to the maintenance area's garage with Myriam. Just before that I got a key to open the garage from the school. I opened it up with and we both saw Kanji and Shinjiro laid on the ground sleeping, as well as the items like the bento box, baseball bat, and the knitting needles and yarn. We also noticed something covered by a black jacket and a black cap, so we went to remove the cap and then found... the victim's body. After that we both started to freak out, and Mr. Wright who was nearby must have heard us, as he came over." Juniper explained.

"The defense may cross examine the witness," the judge stated. Apollo nodded, as he thought over what he should press or object to from Juniper's statement.

"Was there anything else that... stood out?" Apollo asked sheepishly. That testimony was so tight in terms of what other information he could realistically draw out of it. Juniper sadly shook her head for a no.

"I'm really sorry Apollo. That's... all I can really say," Juniper said sadly, as she really wanted to help Apollo and Athena out, as well as save Kanji and Shinjiro, but that was realistically all she had to say for this instance.

"The bento box is confirmed to be the same as the ones the students from Gekkoukan High had for lunch earlier this week. It was confirmed the scamp in the red coat is the one who made them, aside from his fingerprints having been found on it. The knitting needles and yarn were found to have belonged to the other scamp with his fingerprints on the needles. The evidence found at the scene connects them. As you can see, the defense is clearly starting to understand why this cross examination is a waste of time," Blackquill said. "I see no further need to waste any more time. Your baldness, the verdict,"

Speculation from the gallery occurred again, as everyone began to discuss the evidence and Blackquill's decision to once again call for the verdict right away.

"Hold it! We still have Ms. Scuttlebutt's testimony to look over don't we?" Athena shouted, annoyed at the prosecutor.

"No point. After all, other then being boxed in her own cardboard world, she would have seen the same things as Ms. Woods. I see no need to bring her out," Blackquill replied. "It just be a pointless exercise in futility for everyone,"

"Not true. Prosecutor Blackquill, everyone has their own perspective on things and Ms. Scuttlebutt's is one that deserves to be heard as well. Ms. Scuttlebutt also discovered the body as well as the defendants at the scene, her voice needs to be heard for a fair trial to be properly conducted," Apollo argued.

"Fine. Fritter away your time if you so desire. But if nothing new ends up resulting from this, your clients are as good as guilty. Do I make myself clear?" Blackquill said with malice. Apollo nodded, though deep inside he really hoped Myriam could bring something new in terms of testimony.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Ms. Scuttlebutt can offer a new perspective on the situation." Athena said, trying to reassure everyone in the room. Prosecutor Blackquill just rolled his eyes at what he just heard, as he highly doubted it.

* * *

><p>"Very well. I call Myriam Scuttlebutt to the witness stand," Blackquill said. Soon the cardboard box wearing teenager took Juniper's place. All the other students except for the members of SEES, and the Investigation Team began to murmur as they saw the cardboard box wearing girl.<p>

"Oh shut up! You're all a bunch of jealous jerks that's jealous I thought to use a cardboard box to sneak around for my scoops!" Myriam yelled out. Both SEES and the Investigation Team sighed and felt awkward at what they just heard, as this only caused their classmates to murmur even more and even start laughing.

"I don't think she's going to be garnering any respect anytime soon, as long as she keeps her box on her being," Naoto whispered to the others feeling embarrassed for the girl on the witness stand.

"Well she must really love cardboard I guess. That or maybe the box part of it," Chie whispered trying to lighten the mood. The judge soon banged his gavel for order, and the whole room went quiet again.

"Now give your name and profession." Blackquill asked.

"Myriam Scuttlebutt. Senior at Themis Legal Academy and also the president of it's newspaper club." Myriam replied seriously, as she didn't want Blackquill to burn her second box. The judge stared at the cardboard boxed girl, and like how he recalled Juniper from the first incident involving Themis Legal Academy, seemed to recall her from the incident last month as well.

"Like the witness from earlier, weren't you from last month's-"but before he could finish, once again Blackquill slammed his hands down, causing the judge to stop talking as he was frightened. Akihiko couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Is the judge or the prosecutor the one running this trial?" Akihiko whispered to the others annoyed.

"Prosecutor Blackquill has a powerful influence, despite being a man wearing chains." Mitsuru whispered back just as displeased.

"I wonder what the judge was about to say though. Something about last month?" Yukari whispered.

"Who knows? Not like we'll ever know if Blackquill keeps-" but Junpei was cut off as Taka screeched and flew right in front of Junpei, trying to use it's talons to claw at Junpei. Junpei immediately stopped talking and covered his face in fear, as the bird soon perched itself back on Blackquill's right shoulder after the prosecutor whistled for him back. Makoto glared at Blackquill who merely smirked back at him, while Fuuka tried to comfort Junpei who looked like he was ready to cry. Ms. Toriuimi just sighed and hoped after today, she would never deal with this prosecutor ever again.

"Enough from the peanut gallery. Now, tell us your testimony of what transpired yesterday," Blackquill asked.

"Alright. We went to the maintenance area's garage yesterday morning and she opened it up. We saw skull shirt and red coat sleeping on the ground. We also saw the other stuff like the bento box which was the same as the ones those Gekkoukan High students ate earlier this week, the baseball bat, and of course the knitting needles and yarn. Like Juniper said, we saw something being covered by a jacket, and cap. We raised the cap and... found the victim. While Juniper was freaking out and calling the police, I snapped photos of the scene with my trusty camera. Then Mr. Wright came by and that's that," Myriam explained.

"I submit this photo this witness took as evidence," Blackquill stated as he presented it. He had two extra copies with him as he gave Taka the task of delivering one to the judge and to the defense's bench for Apollo and Athena to look over. It depicted what was exactly described of the crime scene with the defendants, evidence, and victim shown. Apollo seeing the photo noticed something that gave him an idea, with other evidence and information he already had, and thankfully Myriam spoke a little more in detail compared to Juniper for what he was going to soon question.

"So this was the crime scene in question," the judge stated, as he overlooked it. "Mr. Justice you may begin your cross examination,"

"Gladly your honor. Ms. Scuttlebutt something you said in your testimony caught my attention. You said that the bento box was the exact same one as the one that the students visiting from Gekkoukan High ate earlier this week correct?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah I did. What about it?" Myriam asked.

"Two things I want you to clarify. First off how did you know that's what they had for lunch earlier this week?" Apollo asked.

"Err... I was snooping around in the cafeteria spying on them with my box. No one must have noticed me so I kept watching," Myriam nervously answered. "I noticed that all the Gekkoukan students were eating from the same kind of bento box,"

"Alright so good thing we got that cleared up. Now for the second thing I want clarified, are you absolutely sure that bento box at the crime scene is the exact same one as the ones the students from Gekkoukan had?" Apollo asked.

"Kahk kahk kahk!" Myriam laughed at what she just heard. "Are you blind mister red lawyer? The photo I took shows that it's the same box as what the guys and girls from overseas from that school were eating. I think you're in need of some contacts or glasses,"

"I think... that you've just shown that you don't know what they truly have," Apollo said with a smirk. Prosecutor Blackquill glared at Apollo, while Myriam frustrated by what she just heard began to pound the inside of her box with fists, as audible sounds of her box being punched were heard.

"Explain yourself Justice-dono. Now," Blackquill said as he immediately slammed his hands on his bench. Apollo nodded, back feeling confident.

"It's true that the bento boxes that the Gekkoukan High students had for lunch the other day... all use the same kind of box to contain the food, as the same one found from the scene. But that doesn't mean... they all share the same contents," Apollo smirked. "While I thank Ms. Scuttlebutt for taking a photo of the crime scene, after she and Juniper discovered it, it also shows that she didn't open it, isn't that right?"

"Kahk! Why the heck would I mess with stuff at the crime scene like that? I'm not stupid enough to mess around with stuff like that at a crime scene. Are you calling me stupid for not being stupid!?" Myriam said angrily, as she continued to punch the insides of her box. Everyone watching from the gallery felt awkward at what they just heard.

"No you were right not to mess with the crime scene. That was a good move on your part," Athena said, trying to calm the girl down. "It's just your claim that the bento box is the exact same when the contents inside them does not match up with the evidence. Apollo, show them the picture,"

"Yesterday as investigations were being conducted, Ms. Skye who was on the scene, examined a lot of things in depth. One of them being the bento box. She opened it up and took a picture of what it contained," and with that Apollo got up and passed a picture to the Judge.

"It... appears to be a knight's crest symbol made with green peas and carrots atop white rice. What of it?" the judge asked. Ms. Toriumi along with the other students of Gekkoukan hearing this immediately noticed the contradiction. Shinjiro in particular could see where Mr. Justice was going to go with this.

"What's the big deal? So what if it's got carrots and peas made to look like a knight's crest?" Myriam yelled annoyed.

"The big deal... is that this doesn't match up with what the Gekkoukan High students had for lunch. The bento box they had had a different design on top of their rice," Apollo shouted.

"A different... design?" Myriam said, calming down a bit and feeling confused.

"Mr. Aragaki created a special bento box for a particular individual, and only it had this special design. The Gekkoukan High students had a symbol based on their school made with olives and red radishes but the bento box found on the scene had carrots and peas made to look like a knight's crest," Apollo explained.

"Oh. So the one found from the crime scene stands out then?" the judge asked, as Apollo nodded back.

"Objection!" Blackquill shouted out, as he slammed his desk once more. All attention turned to him as he smirked. "Where's your proof that the students from Gekkoukan High students have a different design on their bento boxes?"

"They can all testify to that, isn't that right?" Athena asked, as she pointed towards the gallery. Mitsuru stood up and nodded towards the prosecutor.

"As the student council president, I can assure you what Mr. Justice claims is true. Ms. Toriumi our chaperone can also attest to this. The lunches we had earlier this week depicted the symbol of our high school, and not the one found at the crime scene," Mitsuru stated calmly. Ms. Toriumi also stood up and nodded. However a reaction they didn't expect from Blackquill occurred. He began banging on his desk laughing wildly with a confident smirk on his face. He soon stopped and calmed down as he faced them.

"Nice try. But evidence is everything in the court of law. I demand actual physical proof of the bento boxes had for lunch this week, having a different design from the one found at the crime scene," Blackquill stated.

"Are you serious? All of the students from my school can attest for what Mr. Justice claims, isn't that right?" Ms. Toriumi replied frustrated. All the remaining Gekkoukan High students nodded, towards the prosecutor.

"Bah. Like I said before, no evidence, no support for your claim." Blackquill stated harshly. Apollo and Athena looked at each other and gulped. Did they have physical evidence that could prove that the Gekkoukan High students had a different symbol, that could prove this? They only had the bento box from the crime scene at the moment. The members of SEES in particular looked really frustrated except for two members. Fuuka looked saddened, while Makoto was in deep thought. Makoto suddenly realized something as he whispered something to Fuuka who nodded back after hearing it. Soon she stood up and gulped, as the attention shifted all to her.

* * *

><p>"Objection!" Fuuka quietly and shyly said, feeling deathly afraid of the prosecutor. Everyone else looked at her concerned, as Blackquill looked at her with skeptical eyes. "Before the trip, Shinjiro sempai and I were practicing our cooking together in the dorm, that he, as well as me, and certain other students live together in. As he was helping me, he was also making the bento boxes for the school trip. The same one we had on Monday, earlier this week for lunch."<p>

"Is that so? Unfortunately you don't have anything to prove that, little girl," Blackquill said.

"It can be proven," Makoto said, as he stood up and glared at the prosecutor. "While Shinjiro sempai and Fuuka were cooking that day together, I was filming them on my cell phone to have a memory. My cell phone is present and has the data saved onto it and we can easily show this in court,"

Prosecutor Blackquill remained skeptical as he looked at the blue haired teen who was glaring at him, who had the teal haired girl still standing beside him, looking less afraid due to Makoto standing up with her.

"Very well. Let's see if your claim is true then young man. Fool Bright! Prepare something we can all watch this video footage on," Blackquill ordered. The detective nodded as he flashed a big pearly white smile.

"You got it! One laptop and projector coming right up!" he yelled as he left the courtroom. Soon he returned carrying a laptop as well as a projector on a table. After the detective was done setting it up, Makoto and Fuuka walked up to it and using a USB cable transferred the necessary video file onto the laptop from Makoto's cell phone, and then clicked on it to play. The lights were turned off, and soon a video began to play of what appeared to be Shinjiro and Fuuka in a kitchen in a dorm. Someone, presumably Makoto was holding the cell phone to film them.

"Fuuka, remember you should flip the pancake when those bubbles pop and form holes that stay open on the surface of it. Once that happens flip," Shinjiro said kindly. Both he and Fuuka were wearing white aprons as the young quiet girl was following his instructions. After she flipped it successfully, Shinjiro smiled, while the cameraman gave Fuuka a small thumbs up, which caused her to blush. A sound of a dog barking can then be heard.

"That must be Koro chan." Shinjiro said. Soon Koromaru entered the scene, causing many students from both Gekkoukan and Yasogami to remark how cute he was. The dog walked up to both Shinjiro, and Fuuka as they petted him lovingly as he barked happily. He also pleaded at the two to be walked.

'I'm really sorry Koro chan. I would love to walk you but Shinjiro sempai is teaching me how to make pancakes," Fuuka said sadly.

"Sorry boy. I love to walk you as well but besides helping Fuuka out, I'm busy making the lunches for the school trip happening very soon. I have to make a lot and make sure they nail the Gekkoukan look I'm going for," Shinjiro explained as Koromaru looked disappointed from what he heard.

"Oh don't worry. I can take him out," said Junpei as he entered the room hearing what Shinjiro said. "I can't wait for your awesome lunches on the trip by the way, Shinjiro sempai. Come on Koro chan. Let's go boy,"

Junpei led Koromaru away as the video then showed Shinjiro as he was making a bento box. When Shinjiro finished, it resembled the same bento box that the students had for lunch earlier that week.

"Pretty good Shinjiro sempai," Makoto's voice can be heard saying. Shinjiro just shrugged, as he still wasn't used to praise like that.

"It's nothing really. Anyway I should go back and check on Fuuka," Shinjiro replied as they both went back to focus on her. She however was seen plopping what appeared to be a normal pancake onto a blue plate.

"I hope this is fine," Fuuka said, her voice not exactly full of confidence.

"Don't worry. As long as you try, you will always get better," Shinjiro said, as he and Makoto took a fork for themselves and took a bite. Fuuka closed her eyes, expecting the worst, only for both boys to praise her for getting better. Soon the video ended, and the lights were turned back on, as everyone in the courtroom turned to face the two high school students standing.

"What a very adorable video." the judge said happily. "I also suggest we leave the electronics here, so if we need it for later, we don't need to take it out again,"

Apollo couldn't help but wonder, if he and Athena should ever take a cooking class together, while Athena was thinking similarly.

"That is our proof. What do you have to say to that, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Makoto stated in a matter of fact like tone. Prosecutor Blackquill had a frustrated expression form on his face as he reluctantly sighed.

"Fine. I concede that the bento box found at the scene has a different design then the ones had for lunch earlier this week," Blackquill said begrudgingly. Soon Makoto and Fuuka took their seats on the gallery, as the remaining members of SEES, the Investigation Team and Ms. Toriumi gave the two a big thumbs up. Fuuka had a sheepish smile, while Makoto smirked as they sat down.

"So... why does that matter?" Myriam still on the witness stand said. The attention turned to her, as she began to speak. "I mean... what does that change or signify mister red lawyer?"

"It points to who I believe is the true killer is in this case!" Apollo shouted, causing everyone to speculate. Mitsuo Kubo sitting amongst the Yasogami High students began to sweat, as he didn't expect this turn of events. The judge began to pound his gavel for silence as the courtroom soon began to quiet down.

"The true killer? Are you saying you know who actually murdered Mr. Morooka?" the judge asked, flabbergasted.

"Objection!" Blackquill yelled. "If you truly think the contents of a bento box, disproves the defendants from being the real killers then you are sadly mistaken. How do you explain the other evidence? The knitting equipment and yarn for instance was proven to belong to the other defendant. As well as evidence I believe you two don't know about yet,"

"Evidence we don't know about?" Apollo asked feeling a bit more concerned. Everyone in the gallery looked more concerned, as Blackquill smirked.

"Justice-dono, Have you ever considered why our victim was murdered at Themis Legal Academy to begin with? Why he was there?" Blackquill asked. Apollo could not deny, that was an extremely good point he himself overlooked. He understood why Kanji and Shinjiro were there but the victim himself? Why was he there?

"What evidence do you have to present, exactly?" Athena asked.

"Why the victim went to Themis Legal Academy. When police searched the victim, yesterday morning, they found a note on him that was addressed to him." Blackquill replied.

"A note for Morooka?" Apollo said. He knew Kanji and Shinjiro were given a note, so Morooka receiving a note as well, wasn't too much of a stretch.

"I'll read it out loud. Ahem... If you want your stuff back, come meet me at the gym in Themis Legal Academy at 9PM. Don't bring anyone else." Blackquill said. "And the initials KT were found on the back of it,"

"KT?" Apollo said nervously, realizing what the initials could possibly stood for.

"Kanji Tatsumi," Blackquill said with an extremely smug look. Kanji looked like he was ready to drown in his own sweat.

"Objection!" Athena shouted, as she slammed her right hand on the defense's bench. "How do you know that someone didn't try to frame our client?"

"How do you know that young man didn't write it? Considering the intelligence of someone who falls asleep at their scene of the crime, I wouldn't be surprised if his lack of it caused him to also have him initial this note," Blackquill stated. Kanji just shrunk in his seat, pretending he didn't hear that.

"Wow. That was ridiculously harsh," Rise whispered to the others.

"I guess that samurai has a sharp way with his words," Yukiko whispered back.

"Well he's definitely not a friendly one considering his title," Yosuke whispered still regretting his decision to do what he did to Mr. Gavin earlier.

"Prosecutor Blackquill." Apollo said, getting everyone's attention back on him. "While it's apparent that the victim received a note... he wasn't the only one to receive a note as well. Our clients also received a note,"

"What? What are you babbling about now?" Blackquill said, as he returned to glare at Apollo. "No notes or anything like that were found on the defendants at the scene of the crime,"

"While that's true, we have proof that they did receive a note. The evidence I present to the court is this photo,"Apollo stated as he got up to pass two extra copes for Blackquill and the judge. "The photo you see is of the note that Kanji himself received from someone."

"This... appears to be what you described Mr. Justice," the judge stated as he looked the photo over.

"I'll read what the note says from the photo take of it. Ahem... If you don't want your secret regarding your knitting becoming known to the students of Yasogami and Gekkoukan High, and want your equipment back, come to the gym at Themis Legal Academy at midnight tonight. If you don't show up, prepare for your secret to be unraveled," Apollo stated.

"So that explains the knitting needles then. Skull shirt went to school because someone took them?" Myriam said out loud.

"So are you satisfied Prosecutor Blackquill?" Athena questioned.

"No. The note claims a secret would also be revealed. What secret would be worth pursuing these instructions for? I highly doubt knitting equipment alone be enough," Blackquill answered skeptical.

Apollo looked toward Kanji, and the teen sighed but then nodded back with a confident expression. Apollo nodded back, seeing how he had received permission.

"Actually Prosecutor Blackquill, the knitting needles are part of the secret. My client Kanji's secret was basically... he didn't want anyone other then his closest friends knowing about him knitting for fear of embarrassment and his image. Isn't that right?" Apollo explained. Kanji got up and nodded.

"That's right. So everyone watching from the gallery, get your laughs out now. Laugh at me alright for wanting to knit stuff," Kanji yelled frustrated. However no one in the gallery reacted, confusing Kanji. "Huh? You guys didn't aren't going to laugh... or anything? Actually... when the knitting needles were brought up earlier, besides talking you guys didn't really laugh or anything. What gives?"

"Kanji. No one is going to make fun of you for doing something like that," Yu stated, as he stood up. Everyone turned to look at the silver haired teen as he had a serious expression on his face. "We're all mature young adults here. It's not a big deal,"

"Plus your family kind of owns the Textile shop in Inaba's Central Shopping District. I don't think it's too surprising you own stuff like that," Yosuke said as he stood up to defend Kanji as well.

"Yeah! Besides if anyone did make fun of them, they have to deal with me and my feet of fury!" Chie proclaimed as she stood up.

"Don't worry what others think of you Kanji. You should know that better then anyone else. Believe in yourself and your loved ones," Naoto stated.

Soon the rest of the Investigation Team stood up with encouraging words and soon SEES followed suit. Kanji was in tears from all the support he heard. Prosecutor Blackquill however just rolled his eyes from everything he was hearing.

"This is a court of law. Not a pity party. Stop wasting time," Blackquill shouted as he slammed his bench with his left hand. Kanji recomposed himself while both SEES and the Investigation Team looked at the prosecutor disapprovingly. "I concede that this boy does have a motive for going to the school. But... how do we know that the so called note you presented is real evidence?"

"What?" Apollo asked taken back with a shocked expression on his face. "Are you implying... I presented fake evidence!?"

"Wow. I can see it now for my next story. Heated words are flying between jailbird and mister red attorney at this incident at Themis," Myriam said, as she took out a camera and snapped a photo of Apollo's expression.

"This is the Dark Age of the Law where lawyers will do anything to attain victory. How do I know you're playing fairly, Justice-dono?" Blackquill teased.

"Hey! We wouldn't do that!" Athena shouted angry.

"Dark Age... of the Law?" Ms. Toriumi said audibly in a confused state. Everyone in the crowd began to murmur as they have never heard such a thing before. The judge soon slammed his gavel to quiet the gallery down.

"Looks like the teacher needs to be educated. I guess I'll have to play educator," Blackquill said, causing Ms. Toriumi to cringe, as being lectured by this man was the last thing she wanted. "During the past several years, the trust in the legal system has deteriorated significantly due to two specific incidents. I won't go into detail about those two incidents, but because of them, many attorneys find themselves that the results of winning are more valuable then finding the truth. Who's to say Justice-dono is among those who value the results over the truth?"

"Prosecutor Blackquill I assure you, the truth is what I value!" Apollo yelled. "I think we had a similar conversation when we first faced off, earlier this year. The truth is more important then results!"

"Then prove that Tatsumi received this note besides this photo. What's to say that this photo isn't simply doctored?" Blackquill stated harshly. Apollo groaned in frustration as Athena tried to calm him down. How could he possibly prove that? "Well if you can't prove that, then I suppose it's time for the verdict,"

"**OBJECTION!**" shouted a new but familiar voice, they all turned to face.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>Keep in mind this is Part 1. Also one very important note I'm going to discuss before going any further.<br>**

**1. Like I said in the past, this story is a bit of an Alternate Universe and one more thing I forgot to address is Mitsuo Kubo. In Persona 4 he's technically from a different school but for the sake of this story, he was always treated as part of Yasogami. Just to clarify.**


	8. Clash of Logical Swords-Part 2

**Chapter 8 is also out as well, right away. It is Part 2 of Chapter 7 after all. Anyway one quick note is that prepare to have headphones because for the first time, a certain famous theme that every Ace Attorney will be playing at some point towards the end. You'll see what I mean. Anyway don't be afraid to share your thoughts. Let's get this story going!**

* * *

><p>They all turned their attention to the entrance to the courtroom, as a familiar blue suited lawyer stood there with a serious but confident expression. Everyone in the gallery began to feel relief, seeing the man as he walked into the courtroom more.<p>

"Why if it isn't Mr. Wright back again," the judge said. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to help settle some inconsistencies. I brought someone from the Gatewater Hotel who's here to testify," Phoenix explained.

"So Wright-dono wishes to join this sword duel? I accept," Blackquill mused. The members of SEES and the Investigation Team rolled their eyes at what they just heard.

"You're not a samurai Prosecutor Blackquill," Junpei whispered with rolling eyes, still annoyed at the treatment he received earlier, from the prosecutor.

"At least not a traditional one," Yukari whispered.

"This isn't a sword fight," Akihiko whispered.

"He doesn't mean a clash of blades. He means a clash of logic. Though his obsession with the ways of the samurai is concerning," Mitsuru whispered.

Phoenix looked at the prosecutor back with a big smirk. "I guess so Prosecutor Blackquill. I brought the bellboy from Gatewater Hotel to testify. Is that alright with everyone?"

"Yes. We have no problem with this boss," Athena answered, as Apollo nodded.

"Fair enough. Let's see where this goes. I feel our box has served her purpose," Blackquill said.

"Wait! That's it? I'm done? I thought-"Myriam stammered out before Blackquill just slammed both his hands on his bench, causing Myriam to flinch so badly, she threw her box upwards allowing everyone in the gallery to actually see what she looked like without wearing her cardboard box over her uniform. She had dark blue eyes and dark blue hair tied into two pigtails held by hair clips. Realizing this, she immediately covered her face with her hands, as the box soon fell back onto her, and she soon hurriedly left to wait with Juniper if they needed to be called back for more testimony.

"So that's the real Myriam. She should keep the box off, she looks better without it," Yukari whispered jokingly.

"Wow. She's actually very pretty when she's not holed up in cardboard," Yosuke whispered.

"I don't know. Her attitude can still be pretty boxed in, if you know what I mean," Junpei whispered back with a snicker.

* * *

><p>Soon on the witness stand a bellboy from the Gatewater Hotel took her place. One thing that seemed to stick out the most about the man, was that he carried a tray that held a tea set and did not seem to ever put it down.<p>

"Alright. Name and occupation," Blackquill asked.

"I'm a mere bellboy who serves at the Gatewater Hotel. Will that suffice?" the bellboy said. Blackquill nodded, as he was satisfied.

"Shouldn't you place your tray with your tea set on it, down on a table?" the judge asked. The bellboy shook his head for a no. "Well if that's what you want,"

"Alright Wright-dono. What relevance does this bellboy bring to this trial?" Blackquill asked. Both Apollo and Athena were curious to see how this bellboy was involved as well.

"Very well. I'll explain myself first. During the recess we had earlier, I paid a visit to Gatewater Hotel, since the victim was staying there during his time in California. I thought it be possible if anything of note be in the hotel be relevant for the trial. I talked with the bellboy you all see here and he said he's willing to cooperate with us for this trial," Phoenix explained as he then took a seat in the gallery once more.

"Cooperate?" Athena said confused.

"Yes. In fact I was delighted to do so," the bellboy replied remembering how he testified many years ago for a trial where Wright and Edgeworth faced off. "For example, I brought with me, the security footage of the hallways where the victim and the defendants and such were staying at earlier this week,"

Mitsuo Kubo felt sweat begin to drip from his forehead once more while Kanji and Shinjiro had the biggest grin on their faces. Mitsuo Kubo was glad that Blackquill interrupted Mr. Justice earlier when it came to who the true killer was, but now was concerned this might lead back to him. No one had taken that possible thought into account it seems, regarding the the hotel hallways even having security cameras. Then again they were just all teenagers in high school.

"So you're saying you have footage of the hallway for the defendants and the victim on the day of the murder?" Apollo asked with confidence, as that could really be beneficial.

"Before we hear the bellboy out, you have yet to clarify one thing Justice-dono," Blackquill stated, catching everyone off guard. "You have yet to clarify the ambiguity of the note the victim died with. Cykes-dono earlier claimed that it was to frame one of your clients,"

"What about it?" Apollo replied, unsure where Blackquill was going with this exactly.

"If what you claim is true, regarding the scamp being lured to the scene as well, what was the lure to catch our victim? What was the bait that your so called true killer used to manipulate the victim to going to Themis Legal Academy besides the defendants?" Blackquill challenged.

Apollo began to think this over as he and Athena whispered to each other. They explained why Kanji ended up going but never Mr. Morooka, but they didn't know the exact reason why Morooka went there aside from following instructions from a note.

"Well let's think about what was found on the crime scene. The bento box... no I doubt it. Knitting needles and yarn were proven to be Kanji. The baseball bat was the murder weapon so it probably belongs to the true criminal who we both have a strong feeling who it is, from what we heard," Athena whispered trying to go over what was found.

"Well one thing Ema found at the scene was... a key in the incinerator," Apollo said, wondering if that could possibly be it. The key was something they were still overlooking in forensics but he did have a photo of it at least. Was that what Morooka was lured to Themis Legal Academy for? Well it was now or never as he decided to go with his gut feeling and work with it.

"So have you come up with nothing as expected?" Blackquill taunted.

"Actually... I think I do have something in mind that the victim might have been lured out for," Apollo said with a confident smirk. "Detective Skye yesterday during her investigations found something at the scene that has yet to be addressed in court. She found a key in the incinerator nearby the garage at the maintenance area. The defense claims that it possibly belongs to the victim and is the reason he went there!"

Speculation had gone rampant as everyone began to talk over what that could possibly mean. Ms. Toriumi herself upon hearing this, wondered if that key was the same one she carried. The one she received from the bellboy the other day. The judge began to bang his gavel for order, as Apollo handed out a copy of the photo of the singed key to the judge and to Blackquill as he had them over look it.

"A key that survived being in fire? Must be quality metal," the judge mused. The bellboy upon hearing this looked towards Apollo.

"May I see a photo of this key?" the bellboy asked. Apollo shrugged seeing why not, as he handed the bellboy his own copy of the photo. The bellboy overlooked it and then gave it back to Apollo. "Ah I see. This appears to be the tungsten key I gave Mr. Morooka on Monday night. Ms. Toriumi should still have hers,"

"Yes I believe I do," Ms. Toriumi said, as she took out her own copy of the key to show to everyone, causing everyone to talk even more. She soon sat down with a smirk as Blackquill had an expression of frustration appear on his face. The judge slammed his gavel down once more as Blackquill glared at Apollo.

"What is the significance of that key?" Blackquill yelled.

"I'll explain for Mr. Justice. That key was prepared for both chaperones for their students. The key would allow them to open any door that their students were staying at, in case of emergencies." the bellboy stated.

"We can ask forensics right now to check to see if anything was found on the burnt key to link to the victim. They should hopefully be done by now," Athena suggested.

"Fine. Fool Bright, go check with forensics regarding the key," Blackquill ordered. The detective one again flashed a pearly white smile, as he left the room. "One more thing I want clarified while we wait for Fool Bright and before we overlook the bellboy's footage. You said a while ago, the contents of the bento box found at the crime scene, points to who you believe is the true killer... now is the time for you to state who it is if you're so adamant on those two scamps not being the killers,"

Everyone in the gallery remained silent as this was possibly the real moment of truth. Mitsuo felt sweat all over him as this was not going the way he expected at all. Kanji and Shinjiro looked at each other with tense but serious eyes as they looked towards Apollo and Athena. Apollo looked towards Athena who gave him, a reassuring smile, as he took a deep breath as he slammed both his hands on the defense's bench to get everyone attention on him.

"Alright. Mr. Aragaki made that bento box specifically for one person. That person who received the bento box, is the person I believe is the true culprit. That symbol on the lunch matches the symbol on their black jacket as well. That person is... Mitsuo Kubo!" He yelled out as he pointed his finger towards the gallery. All the Yasogami High students sitting nearby the teen, stared at him with fear, noting the knight's crest symbol, while he tried to keep a confident expression on his face but looked like he was cringing really hard. "I believe he's the true culprit!"

"What...**WHAT!?**" the judge yelled as the courtroom went mad with chatter. The members of the Investigation Team and SEES had a confident smile, as they believed they were getting closer to the truth, and were going to be able to save their friends.

"Order! Order in the courtroom!" the judge yelled out as he began to bang his gavel wildly, as no sounds soon fell upon the courtroom once more.

"We demand that Mitsuo Kubo testify on the stand so the real truth can finally be learned!" Athena shouted, as she slammed her right hand on the desk. Blackquill had his eyes closed, as he was taking all this information in. He opened them and smirked.

"Objection! We we're going to hear the bellboy's testimony first, isn't that right?" Blackquill asked. However the bellboy had a rather weird pained expression on his face.

"Are you okay?" the judge asked, wondering why the bellboy's expression was like that.

"Sorry to be the bearer of... news you may not want to hear but I'm badly in need of the restroom." he stated. Everyone had an awkward expression upon hearing that. "Don't worry. I don't plan on running away or anything. While I'm in the restroom, you may have... who Mr. Justice believes is the true culprit testify in the meantime, and I'll come back to testify afterward," and with that the bellboy hastily made his way out of the courtroom.

"Not that we don't want to see the video footage, we do, but thank you for letting us know." Athena said in response. "Now Prosecutor Blackquill, we're going to have Mitsuo Kubo on the witness stand!"

"I believe the defense has reasons for doing this. Your opinion Prosecutor Blackquill?" the judge asked. Prosecutor Blackquill remained silent as he quietly took all this in. He then raised both his arms and with one extremely fast and powerful motion, slammed them on his bench, causing the chains holding his shackles to break. Everyone stared at the prosecutor with silence and paled eyes as realization soon hit them. Kanji felt like fainting while Shinjiro couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Apollo and Athena looked at each other and gulped, as this was about to start again.

"Hmm...**AAH!**" the judge yelled as he quickly dived under his table, as the gallery exploded with noise. Ms. Toriumi was doing her best to calm the gallery down as the judge was currently unavailable.

"Did he just... did he just break his chains!?" Yukari loudly yelled.

"He... he broke his chains!" Naoto yelled to answer, very concerned.

"That's not suppose to happen!? How did he break them!?" Rise shouted, in a panicked state.

"He really must have some serious strength!" Akihiko shouted both amazed and bewildered.

"Akihiko! This is not the time to be praising Prosecutor Blackquill!" Mitsuru scolded but felt tension growing within her.

"I'm officially freaked out!" Chie shouted, as she felt her legs turning to jelly.

"As long as he's not armed, he shouldn't be a problem right?" Yukiko said trying to calm the others down but fear rising in her voice. Blackquill just spat the brown feather he had sticking out of his mouth towards Apollo's direction and with an extremely quick motion, did something to slice it in half as Apollo visibly flinched. Fuuka held onto Makoto due to fear as he and Yu looked at Blackquill and realized something about him.

"Whoa. Now that was a clean cut," Yu said impressed with whatever Blackquill just did.

"How can you be so calm at a time like this!?" Junpei shouted out.

"A criminal just broke out of his chains! He wears the chains for a reason!" Yosuke added on.

"Because other then cutting that feather, he's just standing there again," Makoto calmly pointed out, as he tried to calm Fuuka down who was feeling afraid, understandably. Prosecutor Blackquill was indeed not moving from his place. He soon made everyone be quiet once more as he did the following.

"**SILENCE!**" and he slammed both his hands on his bench, as the room went absolutely quiet. "I just felt the need... to get ready. Your baldness, please get back up. Cykes-dono very well then. I'll take up your challenge. Mitsuo Kubo take the stand!"

* * *

><p>The judge soon got back up with Junpei's baseball cap still on him with a frightened expression, while Mitsuo hearing this from the gallery quickly got up and made his way to the witness stand. Getting on this prosecutor's bad side was a big priority at the moment as he felt sweat drench him. "Name and occupation."<p>

"Mitsuo Kubo. A student who goes to high school," he said trying to not get into any unnecessary details.

"Testify what you were doing on Tuesday night, earlier this week," Blackquill said. Mitsuo nodded as he quickly thought about what to say. That was the night were Morooka went missing and was found next morning murdered. He also had to consider the videotapes that the hotel apparently had in the hallways he didn't notice.

"Alright. I want to preface something before I start. I saw Morooka that night but don't get any wrong ideas! I had to see Mr. Morooka that night about something and that was it. Afterward I walked around and went out for a bit and came back way later for some peace and quiet. I sure as hell don't have any motive for framing those two!" Mitsuo said, feeling the jig was nearly up if he didn't get lucky in some way.

"The defense may begin their cross examination," the judge said.

"Gladly. Objection!" Apollo shouted with great confidence, causing Kubo to grind his teeth. "Mr. Kubo... are you aware that you do indeed have a motive for doing this?"

"Motive? What motive could this student possibly have?" Blackquill asked with skepticism.

"Everyone in the gallery can testify to what happened during lunchtime on Monday, earlier this week, when Mr. Tatsumi accidentally covered Mitsuo Kubo with food." Apollo said. However he felt another missed slash occur, causing him to flinch while Blackquill glared at him.

"Not good enough. I demand physical proof something like this occurred," Blackquill stated.

"Then I'm happy to be of help," Phoenix still watching from the gallery shouted. Attention turned towards the attorney as he pulled something out of his pocket that students from Yasogami High recognized. It was what appeared to be a notepad. "Besides speaking with the Bellboy, I investigated the victim's room to see if he left anything that might help find the truth in this trial. This notepad from what I looked over, has Mr. Morooka's notes he would write down and belongs to him. I checked for any that have occurred this week. I found one that will be particularly relevant,"

Phoenix flipped the notepad to the correct date and then handed it to the judge who began to read and overlook it, as two notes were found on that date.

"November 3rd. Tatsumi being the rebellious punk he is threw an animal cracker at that Kubo kid today during the bus trip. What a punk. When we get back he's getting two weeks of detention." the judge said as he finished reading the first note. "Tatsumi once again, being the punk he is, gets even more food on that Kubo kid with a whole lunch tray for this academy. What a punk... again. Guess I'll have to up the ante on his punishment when we get back home after this trip,"

Everyone began to speak as they were reminded of the victim whether they knew him or not. Kanji just sighed, as he would rather deal with the punishments that he accidentally got himself into, then having Morooka being murdered and be put into trial. The judge ordered for silence as he banged his gavel.

"If you're worried if this is possibly faked or anything, we can send this right now to forensics to test for his fingerprints. What do you have to say to that Prosecutor Blackquill?" Phoenix said. Blackquill sighed in reluctance once more.

"Very well Wright-dono. You wield the blade of truth very well. I'll concede to this point," Blackquill responded. "When Fool Bright comes back, we'll have that notepad tested."

"Hold it!" Mitsuo Kubo shouted out. "Just because I got food on me, doesn't mean that I frame someone for murder over it. That's crazy."

"What do you have to say in your defense then?" the judge asked.

"Well for starters... where the hell are my fingerprints at, during the crime scene?" Kubo questioned. "If I was really the killer, my fingerprints would be found on anything at the damn crime scene. Explain that you stinking lawyers!"

"Stinking!?" Athena said furious. "I'll have you know I smell like oranges and the thrill of getting a good workout with deodorant!"

"Let's calm down Athena. We can refute this," Apollo said. "Actually I'll say one thing you're right about. Currently no fingerprints of yours have been found on the scene of the crime," Apollo stated.

"That's right you... huh?" Mitsuo answered back confused. Blackquill rolled his eyes as he was now curious to see what was going to be said next.

"Your fingerprints weren't found at the scene of the crime. True... but we know the reason why. Mr. Kubo we currently notice your hands are free," Apollo said with confidence. Mitsuo looked at his hands which weren't wearing anything, aside from sweat. "No sensible person who commit a crime like this would have their fingerprints on any evidence. You wore gloves when you committed your crimes!"

"Silence!" Blackquill shouted as he interrupted Apollo. "It seems you're forgetting that no fingerprints were found of the defendants on the murder weapon, yet they're the most likely suspects. How do you explain for that? Are you suggesting that the scamps didn't wear gloves to commit the act?"

"Simple. No gloves were found at the scene of the crime, for our clients to have been wearing. Where as for Mr. Kubo here... we have evidence he wore gloves during the period of the murder," Apollo shouted.

"**WHAT!?**" Mitsuo yelled out in shock. Yosuke in the gallery snickered as he was glad he could be of some use.

"You see, Mr. Kubo here was staying with three other students at a hotel room at the Gatewater Hotel for a school trip to Themis Legal Academy. During Wednesday morning, one of the students who stayed in the room with Mr. Kubo woke up and saw him sleeping with black gloves on." Athena explained. "That student filmed him while he was sleeping for certain reasons, and in the footage you can clearly see he is wearing black gloves,"

"No don't!" Mitsuo Kubo pleaded for many reasons. Apollo and Athena just smirked in response.

"This is what you get for calling us stinky!" Athena playfully teased.

Apollo took out a red USB drive as he made sure to make a copy for himself on the office's computer after Ema took the blue USB drive with her as evidence. He made his way to the laptop still in the room and began setting up to play the video. Soon the lights were off as the projector turned on again. A sleeping Mitsuo Kubo can be seen on his bed wearing black gloves. However what was probably most notable, was how he kept sleep talking about Yukiko. Everyone from Yasogami High except the Investigation Team began to laugh wildly, while Yukiko had a very awkward expression on her face and the rest of the Investigation Team remained silent feeling awkward. The video soon ended as the courtroom began to quiet down again.

"What do you have to say to that?" Apollo said.

"That... just proves that I like to sleep with black gloves on! For all you know, I just sleep with black gloves normally," Mitsuo in a panicked state retorted with. "That doesn't prove I was the culprit! What about the fact that those two defendants were found sleeping at the scene!"

"Hey everyone did I miss anything?" shouted a very cheerful voice as everyone turned to the courtroom entrance. Detective Fulbright was back along with Ema Skye with him.

"Fool Bright. Did you manage to get the key back from forensics? Is the analysis fully complete?" Blackquill asked, agitated at how long it took the detective.

"Yes! In fact, we also have other things to report besides the key, but let's start with that," Fulbright replied. "The key has been analyzed and the victim's fingerprints were found on it. It's like the bellboy said, it's the same type of key that the other chaperone also has,"

"Tch. Very well then," Blackquill said as he had to acknowledge the relevance of the burnt key at that point. "Fool Bright, bring this evidence to forensics. Now," as he had Taka pick up the notepad, Phoenix presented earlier to the judge and give it to the detective, who was soon on his way again. Ema cleared her throat as the attention turned to her.

"Besides that... analysis over some evidence found at the gym yesterday has been completed." Ema said as she held a plastic bag with two bottles in it. "These green tea bottles were found to have traces of sedating antihistamines. In other words, stuff you find in medicine that make you go to sleep,"

"What!?" Blackquill yelled unprepared for this. "How is this relevant to the case at hand?"

"Because while we had the two defendants for questioning yesterday I requested a sample of their urine after I finished dropping off some teenagers back at their hotel, when I went back to the Detention Center last night," Ema explained. "Their bodies have been confirmed to recently have some sedating antihistamines within them,"

Blackquill was at a loss for words while Apollo and Athena had huge grins, while Mitsuo was starting to feel even more sweaty. Both SEES and the Investigation Team were so glad, this turnaround was occurring.

"This doesn't prove anything! I didn't touch those bottles at all! How do you even know I messed with them?" Mitsuo yelled frustrated.

"Hold on, I'm not done. One thing that was noted also during my investigations earlier, was that a large amount of bottles were found disposed at recycling bins nearby. The school is suppose to restock the refrigerator every Monday and Thursday morning. The fact only two bottles were found at the scene is also suspicious since it shouldn't run out that fast by then," Ema added.

"If you committed the murder at around 9PM according to Morooka's note, you would have had time to move the body with the dolly to the garage and then set everything up to for framing Kanji and Shinjiro by midnight. From what I was told, you somehow trapped them in the gym, raised the temperature using the device outside it, forcing them to drink the two remaining bottles that were tampered with inside." Apollo stated.

"Also I had one more thing looked into as well," Ema said with a smirk. "I went to the school store and asked the clerk to see what was recently purchased as of this week. Needless to say, credit card records that belong to a certain someone on the witness stand, were found to have bought a baseball bat and some medicine known for putting people to sleep. Medicine that contains sedative antihistamines among its ingredients to be precise. Very coincidental wouldn't you say?"

"Coincidental timing! That's it!" Mitsuo yelled out with a mixture of fear and anger as this was all slowly but surely going downhill for him. Before anyone could say anything the bellboy who was finally back from the restroom returned, as he walked into the courtroom.

"I apologize for taking so long. It was... a rather arduous process," the bellboy said. Everyone in the courtroom pretended they didn't hear that as Apollo cleared his throat, to quickly say something and get his mind off what he heard.

"Umm... right. Well now that you're here, can we overlook the videos from the hallways you spoke about earlier?" Apollo asked sheepishly. The bellboy nodded, as he took out a black USB and headed to the computer and to the projector.

"Mr. Wright had asked me to focus on two hallways from Wednesday that week. I'll start with showing the footage that depicts the victim's hallway," as he soon began to play footage, as the room went dark. He fast forwarded it, as he soon stopped that showed Mitsuo banging in front of Morooka's door, complete with him wearing a backpack and black gloves. The footage then showed Morooka leaving the area with Mitsuo walking into Morooka's room. Soon Mitsuo left and eventually Morooka came back. The footage ended there as the bellboy thought that was sufficient and the lights went back on.

"Now earlier you said you saw the victim that night. You didn't say anything about going into his room?" Athena teased.

"That's because it was unnecessary!" Mitsuo shouted, as he sounded manic by this point.

"Really? Well let's continue with the other footage then. Let's see how unnecessary that is as well" Apollo said. The lights went back off as footage now depicted of the hallway where the SEES boys stayed at. Kanji knocked on the door and Shinjiro answered it. It was shown the two were talking and that Kanji showed Shinjiro a note. The two kept talking and then Kanji left. The bellboy then showed footage of Shinjrio knocking at the door where the male Investigation Team members were staying at. It showed Kanji opening the door and the two taking a picture of the note with their cell phones before leaving the area. The lights went back on as the focus on Mitsuo soon occurred.

"What do you have to say to that?" Apollo teased. However another slash from Blackquill occurred, causing Apollo to flinch.

"Silence! Everything you have shown so far is circumstantial." Blackquill said. "Yes I concede the video footage we all saw is real and everything thus far points towards this scamp as the potential culprit... but nothing is definitive!"

"Yeah that's right! Nothing definitive! Everything has been circumstantial as far as I'm concerned," Mitsuo yelled. Everyone in the gallery began to shout, as they couldn't believe what they heard, as the gallery began to get really rowdy. One voice particularly stood out when it yelled the following to Blackquill.

"You're so lame Prosecutor Blackquill! It's obvious he did it with all this evidence stacked up against him!" Rise shouted angrily.

"What did you just say?" Blackquill stated angrily as he turned to face the girl in the galley.

"You heard me! Plus just because you're behind bars, doesn't give you the right to bully everyone around, like you own this courtroom!" Rise shouted. She detested bullying and hearing Fuuka's story the other day, when both SEES and the Investigation Team had met together for the first time during lunch, had reminded her of when she was bullied younger. It was a terrible feeling and the fact this prosecutor had no problem relishing in doing so, made her so emotional. Expecting Blackquill to send his pet hawk Taka at her, or try to slash at her, she closed her eyes expecting the worse. She waited but nothing occurred. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Blackquill was actually smirking and calming down.

"Tch. You have confidence little girl to stand up for what you say. Not bad," Blackquill stated. "But unless definitive proof exists, nothing proves that this scamp is the true culprit,"

"What would you accept as definitive proof, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Athena asked.

"One thing you bring up constantly is the bento box. That the design found on the one in the crime scene matches the witness's knight crest symbol. So far that's purely coincidental though I admit it has some relevance. Unless I see actual proof that he actually had the box in his hands or something along those lines, then I refuse to accept that he's the real culprit." Blackquill said simply.

"Apollo... do we have any physical evidence of him having the bento box or any evidence really?" Athena whispered concerned. Apollo sighed. He was definitely going to have to think this one through.

"Come on synapses... think," Apollo said to himself very quietly as he began to think how they could prove something like that and what he could use to solve this.

"You can do this Apollo," Athena whispered with both faith and confidence.

"What do I know about Kubo? He's a high school student who murders someone and ends up framing two guys for it. He got a bento box from Shinjiro that has a special design on it. Did anyone else see him with that bento box? Shinjiro made it for him, so he obviously knows about it. Kanji knows about it from what he told me. Who else is Kubo connected with? That... Yukiko girl he kept sleep talking about, that was one of the defendant's friends... wait a minute. Yukiko... maybe just maybe Kubo might have done what I think he did if I remember hearing this right from what we heard yesterday. Yes that's it! I can use that angle to reach the truth!" Apollo thought to himself as he finally came to an idea.

"So have you reached any conclusions Mr. Justice?" the judge asked.

"Yes. But before I present it, I have one question I want Mr. Kubo to testify about, to clarify something," Apollo said with a huge smirk. He whispered the details to Athena who smiled back.

"What is it? What now?" Kubo replied with a smirk, as he felt more confident once more.

"I want you to testify to the court... about your sleep talking from that video evidence I presented earlier," Apollo said.

"**WHAT!? WHY?**" Mitsuo said feeling confused and embarrassed. The gallery quieted down as Yukiko again felt awkward.

"Just cooperate. If you're really not the real culprit then let's just have this quick session," Athena said as she pressed the device hanging on her neck. Her trusty AI companion Widget. She pressed it and suddenly a large rectangular holographic screen appeared in front of her, wowing the gallery who were not expecting this. Soon it was fully setup and she smirked.

"What the hell is that thing?" Mitsuo said confused.

"This? Nothing special. Why don't you just start your testimony and we'll see how this goes?" Athena said with confidence. Mitsuo looked uneasy as he looked toward Blackquill.

"Prosecutor Blackquill... do something!" Mitsuo shouted, feeling this was surely a trap of some sort. Blackquill however had a stoic expression on his face, as he refused to acknowledge Kubo.

"If you're really not the culprit... then prove them wrong," Blackquill said calmly. Everyone in the gallery were suddenly surprised by the prosecutor's attitude having calmed down.

"Maybe he does fight for what's right/true in his own way," Makoto and Yu said very quietly to themselves. Fuuka heard Makoto say his words, as she still clung onto him, nodding in agreement.

"We are waiting, Mr. Kubo," the judge stated looking displeased. Mitsuo began to sweat again as he ultimately sighed. He didn't have much of a choice.

"Umm okay. So I was sleep talked about Yukiko who's a girl from my school. Big deal. She's a bland chick that runs an inn within Inaba. I don't care about her at all if that's what you're thinking, so I don't know why you're bringing this up all of a sudden," Mitsuo said calmly. Athena had the biggest smirk on her, as she recorded all the data she heard.

"Good Mr. Kubo. Now I'm going to explain what this is from before. This is... the Mood Matrix," Athena stated.

"The Mood Matrix?" Mitsuo said confused.

"A program designed to see if any conflicting emotions arises during testimony. Basically it will react to how a person is really feeling and see if any contractions are had with the testimony or emotions reacted. The Mood Matrix can tell if someone is happy, angry, sad, or surprised. So now I'm going to overlook your testimony with the emotions reacted and see if anything contradicts,"

"What an impressive piece of technology," Mitsuru whispered to the others.

"It's really advanced," Fuuka said amazed.

"Hmm... looks like your emotions don't add up with your testimony Mr. Kubo. You claim that you don't care for Yukiko but the Mood Matrix is responding otherwise. Throughout that whole testimony you were feeling happy just to bring her up," Athena stated.

"Shut up! That thing is a piece of garbage that's just made to lie for results! Isn't that right Prosecutor Blackquill!" Mitsuo yelled, desperate to discredit the Mood Matrix. Blackquill merely shook his head for a no, to show his disagreement. Mitsuo surprised, looked toward the judge instead.

"Judge!? You can't tell me you fall for this emotion junk right?" Mitsuo pleaded towards the judge.

"Actually... Ms. Cykes has used that device multiple times in previous trials, and it has always been accurate thus far and had lead to the truth being found so... I have to disagree Mr. Kubo," the judge replied.

"What is this? What's the point of that!?" Mitsuo yelled with anxiety filling him up again.

"The point is it sets up for what I believe is the definitive proof... the proof to finally prove that you're the real culprit!" Apollo yelled as he pointed towards Mitsuo Kubo. Everyone in the audience began to get hyped as they saw Mitsuo start to squirm.

_*** Pursuit – Keep Pressing On ***_

"How does it prove I'm the culprit? Just because I like a girl!?" Mitsuo yelled confused and angrily.

"Explain Justice-dono," Blackquill stated, as he slammed both his hands on the prosecution's bench. "It better be a good explanation,"

"Gladly. You see, I just remembered one more thing that my clients friends discussed with Athena and I yesterday. Ms. Amagi had actually received a visit from Mr. Kubo during the day of the murder, isn't that right? You liking her would explain why you visited her in the first place," Apollo explained.

"Errr... ummm...ughhh..." Mitsuo could only manage to stammer out as he began to panic.

"That's right! He came by earlier this week at our room with the bento box! He wanted to give it to me and I declined. He also opened it at some point!" Yukiko shouted.

"Well... all we have to do is ask the bellboy here to check for footage of that scene and we'll see what's up then," Apollo explained.

"**NO! DON'T DO IT!**" Mitsuo shouted, as he looked practically swamped in sweat at this point. The bellboy who was still there, ignored Mitsuo as he began to search for such footage of that hallway on the black USB he brought. Soon it was found as the lights went out again and video footage began to play. It showed Mitsuo wearing black gloves holding the bento box in front of the room where the female Investigation Team members stayed at. He knocked on it and soon Yukiko opened it up. It showed them talking and him slowly opening the bento box up. It showed right then and there, that it was the same symbol as the one found on his shirt, and it was indeed the same bento box from the crime scene. Soon the video showed Yukiko going back inside, due to Rise calling for her, and Mitsuo slowly closing the bento box and walking away. The footage stopped and the lights went back on.

"I think it's time we end this with our closing argument. Go start Apollo!" Athena cheered.

Apollo nodded as it was now time to nail the culprit and really reveal what happened as he took a deep breath, and began to speak, summarizing the whole situation with Athena.

"Mitsuo Kubo. You formed a plan to frame Kanji Tatsumi and also ended up framing Shinjiro Aragaki in the process, for the murder of Kinshiro Morooka for payback for the food incidents. You first setup the bait that would lure both the victim and the framed towards Themis Legal Academy. You took Kanji's knitting equipment and yarn, and placed the note that would lead him there at midnight. With Mr. Morooka you had the perfect chance and managed to swipe his key and place the note that would lead him there as well, but only earlier. You also prepared what you needed ahead of time for the crime." Apollo said, as he let Athena continued.

"Once Morooka showed up at the gym, you killed him using the baseball bat. You somehow cleaned the scene of blood. Probably with all the bottles inside the fridge, except the two you needed to plant your trap for Kanji. Once you were done there, you moved the body using the dolly to the maintenance area's garage and then hid till Kanji came by. Once Kanji and Shinjiro came to the gym at midnight, you locked them in somehow by barring the doors and then you raised the temperature from outside using the regulation device, to set them up, to drink the two tampered green tea bottles. You got really lucky that you made two since Shinjiro was not part of the plan, and you had enough of the medicine that contained sedative antihistamines to knock them both out, in each bottle," Athena said, as Apollo took over once more.

"You then probably used the dolly to transport both Kanji and Shinjiro to the maintenance area and placed the various evidence around, to try to implicate them for the crime. You even took Kanji's jacket, and Shinjiro's hat to place them on Morooka to help implicate them even more. You also got rid of the note that Kanji had to hide your involvement. You then closed the garage and at some point throughout the whole night, threw the key into the incinerator in an attempt to get rid of it. You then headed back to the Gatewater Hotel, and acted as if nothing happened, isn't that right!?" Apollo explained as he and Athena pointed towards Mitsuo Kubo.

"What do you have to say to that Mr. Kubo?" Apollo yelled as he and Athena kept point at him.

"Impossible... this can't be happening!" He yelled as he grabbed his head with both arms. "I refuse to accept that you two out of nowhere suddenly came to this conclusion! No way!"

"It wasn't just us," Apollo shouted.

"It was actually a big team effort," Ema said as she was still in the room. Everyone turned to her. "I owe it to Mr. Wright for giving me these suggestions yesterday and for those who helped out. To the twelve that helped me yesterday with my investigations, stand up and don't be afraid to show that you helped found the truth, and protected your friends."

Soon the members of SEES and the Investigation Team stood up, as Ms. Toriumi was at a loss for words.

"We're sorry Ms. Toriumi but we had to do this," Yukari said.

"Protecting those in need, and helping others is what we as SEES are proud of doing," Mitsuru added.

"Our strength in numbers had helped Ms. Skye and the others find the truth," Akihiko stated.

"I don't want anyone else to ever feel the pain I went through, so I'm glad to have helped out," Fuuka said proudly.

"I think we make rather good ace detectives, wouldn't you say Makoto?" Junpei said with a smirk.

"Yes. We were also there to protect our friends in need," Makoto stated calmly.

"We helped found the relevance of the bento box at the scene," Yukiko added.

"The relevance of Kanji's knitting equipment," Chie said right after.

"Finding the tungsten key in the incinerator in the maintenance area," Naoto added calmly.

"Finding the tampered bottles in the gym," Rise added with confidence.

"That video of Kubo sleeping of course," Yosuke said smugly.

"With our help, Ms. Skye was able to find a lot of information she wouldn't have been able to find on her own, and we're glad to have found the truth!" Yu stated.

Mitsuo Kubo looked at all members with rage as he began to seethe. He looked at Kanji and Shinjiro who had the most confident smirks they've had all week. He looked towards Ema who had a smug look back at him. He looked at Blackquill who smirked back, at him. He saw the judge look at him disapprovingly. He saw Mr. Wright and Ms. Toriumi with a serious expression that intimidated him. He saw the whole gallery with glares at him. Finally he looked towards Apollo and Athena who had such cocky smirks back at him.

"I object to this!" he yelled. "**I OBJECT TO THIS NONSENSE!**"

"No! We all object to you, the true culprit!" Athena, Apollo, along with the members of SEES and the Investigation Team all yelled as they all pointed at him. "**OBJECTION!**"

Mitsuo began to feel dizzy. His body's emotional and mental strain began to take it's toll as he slowly but surely began to see everything as if they were made of pixels. He saw the pixel made judge raise his pixel gavel as it grew in size. For whatever reason the judge slowly slammed it down, as it exploded in pixels and Mitsuo was knocked out.

* * *

><p>Silence filled the courtroom as Kanji Tatsumi and Shinjiro Aragaki were both standing at the witness stand. The judge was in a serious expression as he looked toward Blackquill.<p>

"What's the status of Mr. Kubo?" the judge asked.

"He's being treated outside. Seems to be delusional about reality. Something about everything being made out of pixels," Blackquill answered. "He confessed to the crime and is currently being handled to be tried here in court for the future,"

"What was his motive? Was it really revenge?" Athena asked quietly.

"Mainly. He also believed that he had no one. The world abandoned him. That if he couldn't be happy, no one else could be. Sounds like a really lonely individual," Blackquill answered back quietly. Silence filled the room as everyone wasn't sure how to react.

"What a dark motive," the judge said seriously. "Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes. Congradulations for once again turning the case around, and revealing what really happened."

"It was nothing," Apollo beamed. "Just doing what's right, and not letting the weak fall without support. That's what we're all about,"

"I believe it's time for this trial to end, and for the verdict to come out. This court find the defendants, Kanji Tatsumi and Shinjiro Aragaki... not guilty," and with that confetti started falling down the courtroom.

"Why is confetti falling down?" Yosuke said.

"Don't question it man. Just roll with it," Junpei said happily as everyone began to celebrate. Kanji was hugging tightly onto Shinjiro who was trying to breathe, as his fellow defendant was clearly very happy about the results. Phoenix had a proud expression on his face as he looked at Apollo and Athena who were hugging each other. Fulbright just entered finally back with the notepad analyzed, only to see they resolved the trial without him, causing Ema to pat the other detective on the back and hope to be back in time for future trials. Blackquill along with Taka still perched on Blackquill's right shoulder, looked away from everyone, not wanting to partake in the celebration. The judge banged his gavel one last time.

"Court is adjourned,"

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

><p><strong>We have one more chapter to go guys. I'm actually a little sad this story is coming to an end, but like anything, it's going to have to end at some point. Couple of notes.<br>**

**1. The bellboy is a character who showed up in the original Ace Attorney. Knowing him, he probably be still working at the Gatewater Hotel by the time the events of Dual Destinies occurring.**

**2. That whole pixel scene with Mitsuo Kubo is suppose to refer to his "breakdown," like many culprits in the Ace Attorney series have.**

**3. Kind of cheesy with the whole power of friendship thing at the end, but hey... Social Links are powerful evidently. Everything is always a team effort isn't it?  
><strong>

**Anyway...like I said before, don't be afraid to point out or discuss anything. Till what should be the final chapter! Till then guys, and good luck with everything.  
><strong>


	9. Leaving the Legal World

**So here we are. The final chapter. I just want to say thanks to everyone and anyone who even just took a look at my story. Anyone who reviewed, favored, or followed this story, I also thank you guys as well. As always if you have something to say, don't be afraid to say it. Needless to say I'm both really happy and sad this story is finally ending but I hope you guys enjoy! Also have some very important notes at the end, but for now, just enjoy the final chapter of Turnabout Persona!**

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><p>Apollo and Athena were smiling wildly as Kanji and Shinjiro were in such a happy state. The four of them were back in the courtroom lobby as the trial was finally over. The members of SEES and the Investigation Team along with Ms. Toriumi and Ema entered with them, also in a happy state. Juniper also entered with smiles, as she dragged Myriam in, as well. Needless to say the courtroom lobby was very crowded right now.<p>

"I apologize for not taking them back right away after you told me yesterday," Ema was explaining to Ms. Toriumi. "Mr. Wright suggested to have them help out after you left, but I understand if you feel annoyed by what I did,"

"It's fine Ms. Skye," Ms. Toriumi answered back calmly with a smile. "If Mr. Wright thought it was for the best, then I trust his judgment. Plus it all worked out in the end anyway,"

"Way to go Shinjiro sempai! You are a free man!" Junpei comically explained as he gave the older teen a hug. Shinjiro just smiled and returned it.

"Shinjiro sempai, how does it feel, after everything and all?" Yukari asked with a smile.

"Feels great. It's been a while since I've felt this glad about things turning out the way it did," Shinjiro answered.

"Well it was pretty close Shinji. If it weren't for Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes, you would have been a goner," Akihiko joked, as the two shook hands with confidence.

"Well I definitely thank them for everything," Shinjiro said, in high spirits.

"How does it feel Kanji? Cutting it close as always," Rise teased. Kanji sighed with a huge smile, as he was glad it was over.

"I'm so glad Shinjiro sempai and you are safe Kanji," Naoto stated with a big smile. Kanji just sheepishly grinned as he blushed and looked away from Naoto.

"That was awesome Mr. Justice! The way you shouted and showed everyone what you were made of!" Chie exclaimed.

"Well my chords of steel are for real. Though I admit they're feeling pretty tired from all the shouting now," Apollo answered back embarrassed.

"Also Ms. Cykes definitely was a huge help as well." Yukiko added.

"It was nothing," Athena said with a grin. "Besides myself, I owe it to my little pal Widget and his Mood Matrix program,"

"That's a very impressive program and technological device Ms. Cykes," Mitsuru stated. "Also your skills along with Mr. Justice were very impressive,"

"Thank you so much for defending our friends," Fuuka said very happily. "Also I love to see your device in the future. It's very interesting,"

"We should all celebrate at the restaurant, back at the Gatewater Hotel. We would have more time to spend together tonight," Yu suggested.

"I agree. After this crazy trial, be nice to settle back into relaxing," Makoto suggested.

"Sorry about getting Mr. Gavin sick and having you guys face off against Prosecutor Blackquill. I made things a lot harder for you two when I pulled that bad lunch stunt earlier. I still feel kind of bad for that Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes," Yosuke said embarrassed.

"Forget about it. We won the case and saved your friends. It's not a big deal," Athena answered, as she brushed it off.

"You did a great job Apollo! Thank you so much for saving all our new friends!" Juniper beamed as she hugged Apollo. Athena smirked as she was aware of Juniper's crush for Apollo.

"You did good mister red lawyer. The cover story for next month's article is definitely going to show you off in the spotlight," Myriam added.

"You should keep the box off Myriam. You look a lot better without it," Yukiko suggested.

"Maybe. For now I like where it is. I have to admit, that Prosecutor Blackquill will never cease to be intimidating," Myriam answered back.

"He's not a big deal. I bet in a real sword fight he lose," Junpei boasted as two people suddenly entered the room as he still faced the others. Their expressions became one of awkwardness as they tried to signal to Junpei to stop talking but he didn't pick up on it. "Why if he was in this room right now, I show him the ways of the samurai, Junpei style!"

"Is that so?" replied a voice in a teasing tone. Junpei immediately tensed as he slowly looked behind him and saw Prosecutor Blackquill in new chains with Taka still perched on his right shoulder, with Detective Fulbright right behind, making sure Blackquill was on his best behavior.

"Err... you heard the whole thing didn't you?" Junpei asked nervously, while Yukari rolled her eyes.

"More or less. Don't worry... I'm not in the mood to be cutting down unarmed fools at the moment," Blackquill said. Junpei immediately nodded as he ran behind Makoto, just in case.

"What brings you here Prosecutor Blackquill? We don't normally see you after the trials like this," Athena asked curious.

"Just here to say... congrats to you all. That's it," Blackquill stated as he soon turned to leave.

"Wait, Prosecutor Blackquill!" Yu shouted. The prosecutor turned around to face them all once more. "We all noticed that towards the end you let up a bit, when you could have easily kept going on the offensive,"

"What about it?" Blackquill asked.

"We just wanted to say... thank you," Makoto stated simply.

"Just doing my job," Blackquill said with a slight smirk. "I desire the truth as well. I just fight for my position very well. That's all. I wanted to make sure everything was fool proof considering it was always possible that scamp could have been innocent as well."

"Well if I head back to the idol business, maybe I'll write a song about the prisoner prosecutor with the heart of gold," Rise teased. "But seriously, we all thank you. Sorry about what I said earlier if it offended you in any way but... you could stand to be nicer in the courtroom at least,"

"Hmph. I rather not hear such a thing. But I'll keep it in mind." Blackquill said, as he began to leave.

"So where are you going now?" Ms. Toriumi asked.

"Back to my prison cell. My duty has currently been fulfilled," Blackquill stated. Athena cringed upon hearing this, as she still had her own concerns. The others noticed this once more, and they would definitely try to help her out later over this.

"Till the next trial, huh?" Apollo asked.

"I suppose so Justice-dono. By the way... to the girl with the teal hair... keep practicing your cooking. It's bound to get better as your fellow friends on video said," Blackquill answered with a smirk back as he left the courtroom lobby with Fulbright following him. Fuuka couldn't help but smile with embarrassment as everyone realized, he wasn't a complete jerk. Myriam however suddenly remembered something as she asked Juniper this question.

"So... is the school festival still happening tomorrow? I mean it was suppose to be for the students from other schools and all," Myriam asked to Juniper.

"That's... a really good point. I guess so since the trial is resolved? By the way has anyone seen where Mr. Wright has gone?" Juniper said.

"After the trial he told me, he had to go home to prepare his speech for tomorrow's festival." Ema answered.

"In that case, we should hold it then. Plus it be a fun way for you guys to have some fun after what happened with the murder and all." Juniper said. The members of SEES and the Investigation team smiled at what they heard.

"That reminds me. Do you know who's going to handle all the Yasogami High students since Mr. Morooka passed away?" Naoto asked to Ms. Toriumi.

"Yes. When I went down to the station with Detective Fulbright, I made sure to contact Yasogami High among the others things I had to do there. A replacement teacher and chaperone will be here by tomorrow to handle you all. Till then, all of the Yasogami High students are all my responsibility as well," Ms Toriumi explained.

"Huh. I wonder who the replacement is?" Chie said.

"Not to interrupt but my stomach is starving," Kanji said politely. "Can we please get going? I've had no chance to really eat at all today. Though we should probably pick up my jacket and Shinjiro sempai's cap along the way,"

"Then why don't we all go then! I think we're all starving considering it's now evening and that trial took up so much time. Let's get their jacket and cap and enjoy dinner!" Athena said. They all happily nodded as they all made their way back to the Gatewater Hotel.

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><p>We now see the members of SEES and the Investigation Team all fully reunited at last having dinner together happily and were joined by Juniper and Myriam (without her box for once after much persuasion). Kanji finally had his black jacket back, and Shinjiro had his black cap back as well. Ema, Athena, Apollo, and Ms. Toriumi were also on the same large table as they all discussed many topics. They were all talking till a familiar blue suited man once again entered, that caught their attention once more.<p>

"Mr. Wright! Finished your speech early huh?" Ema said happily.

"You can say that. I just came here to congratulate everyone for a great job well done. I'm glad everything worked out," Phoenix said calmly. "Also I came here to talk to Apollo about something very important. May I request some of your time Apollo? I also have to talk with Ms. Toriumi about something in regards to the trial,"

"Of course Mr. Wright. I have no problem with that," Apollo said, as he got up from his seat and went to talk with Mr. Wright outside of the restaurant. Ms. Toriumi soon followed in pursuit.

"Man... I love to work under Mr. Wright as opposed to dealing with Klavier," Ema whined. "Well I'll be right back. Have to use the restroom," and with that Ema left as well.

"I think this be the a good chance for us to ask Ms. Cykes about her relation to Prosecutor Blackquill," Yu whispered to the others. Juniper and Myriam were confused, but shrugged as they watched what soon unfolded.

"Ms. Cykes? Do you mind if we ask you some questions?" Rise asked.

"Sure. I have no problems. After all, we've all been talking throughout dinner right? What is it?" Athena answered calmlly.

"We were wondering if you were willing to elaborate on your relationship with Prosecutor Blackquill. You seem to flinch a lot whenever his past gets brought up," Naoto asked.

"Oh... well maybe?" Athena answered back unsure.

"We're sorry if we touched on something you didn't want us to bring up," Yukiko said.

"We were concerned because your heart seemed to be hurting, whenever he was brought up like that," Fuuka added concerned.

"Oh. Sorry about that. I hate to make you guys worry like that," Athena said, as she was concerned for them now. "I guess I can talk about it a little bit. You guys are lucky that Mr. Wright, Ms. Toriumi, Apollo and Ema aren't here at the moment. Remember to keep this a secret amongst yourselves though! Where to begin... I've actually known Prosecutor Blackquill since I was a child,"

"Really? How have you known each other for so long?" Akihiko asked.

"I've met him at my mom's workplace. He knew my mother as well who worked there. Prosecutor Blackquill also has a sister that worked with my mom. Both my mother and Blackquill's sister were researchers studying and developing robotics and the use of emotional psychology," Athena explained so far.

"Wow. Did your mother create the Mood Matrix?" Yukari asked, amazed.

"Yep. She also created my AI buddy Widget who contains it." Athena said as she pointed towards her smiling machine, she wore around her neck. "The reason Prosecutor Blackquill visited aside from seeing his sister at the workplace was... my mother would also teach him psychology to use in court. This was all before... that terrible incident," Athena added.

"Terrible incident?" Yosuke asked.

"Sounds like we shouldn't continue talking about this then. It's always painful to bring up bad memories," Mitsuru said concerned.

"No it's fine. Part of growing up for myself... is having to accept that bad things happen and you have to move on from them. Continuing on... one day at my mother's workplace... someone was murdered along with a bombing at the workplace. Prosecutor Blackquill was found guilty for the crimes as he was present at the scene," Athena said, trying not to get into too much details. Silence filled them all, as they took this information in. "However... I believe Prosecutor Blackquill isn't the true culprit,"

"What do you mean?" Chie asked quietly.

"From what I know of the events, it just doesn't seem to add up. I feel that he's taking the blame on purpose for some reason and he's not the real culprit. It's... what my heart is telling me," Athena answered quietly.

"Well good luck and prove the world wrong about Blackquill then! Prove he isn't the culprit like you did for me and Shinjiro sempai!" Kanji said with enthusiasm.

"We wish you the best of luck. Anyone who pursues the truth for justice is cool in my book," Yu said.

"Never give up till it's the end, but till then keep going," Shinjiro said with encouraging words.

"Also the fact you're doing this to protect someone who you believe was wronged, is very admirable," Makoto said.

Athena smiled. For some reason, telling these teenagers these details made her feel better. She looked towards them all with a big smile. Perhaps it was the fact she could finally talk to someone about it, as she has yet to discuss this with anyone else. She then looked towards Juniper and Myriam as they nodded and showed they wouldn't discuss it with anyone else. Soon Ema came back from the restroom as they went back to discussing miscellaneous topics. Phoenix, Apollo, and Ms. Toriumi eventually came back as well.

"So it seems something came up that I really need to address when we get back to Japan," Ms. Toriumi said with an embarrassed tone. "I'll have to ask the school board to pay for Mr. Justice and Ms. Cykes and the Wright Anything Agency as, they still need to be paid in the end,"

"Don't worry about that Ms. Toriumi. I can compensate them," Mitsuru suggested.

"But aren't you only in high school? Can you afford to pay for the defense?" Ema asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well we all never had a chance to properly introduce ourselves to you I just realized. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo," Mitsuru said.

"Kirijo... you mean the company that operates all over? That Kirijo?" Ema asked surprised. Mitsuru nodded. "Wow. Then Athena and Apollo, as well as Mr. Wright's agency, can definitely get paid for defending,"

"What did you talk with Mr. Wright about anyway, Apollo?" Athena asked. Apollo flashed a big smirk.

"I can't say. You'll find out during Mr. Wright's speech tomorrow. I'll just say it's pretty big news," Apollo said with confidence.

"Well guys, I have to get going. I'll see you all tomorrow at the festival at Themis Legal Academy. Have a good night everyone," Phoenix said. He soon left and they continued having dinner. When they finished, Ema drove Juniper and Myriam back to their respective homes and soon everyone headed back to their respective rooms, took a nice shower, and finally rested for tomorrow's events.

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><p>It was now Friday, November 7th. Themis Legal Academy has reopened and the students were once again at the building. But instead of class, everyone was having fun as the students from Gekkoukan and Yasogami High were all enjoying themselves. Many stands were set up, as many games and activities themed after the law occurred. Juniper took the members of SEES and the Investigation Team around, as they even got to act out a mock trial for fun. Junpei got to play the role of the ace detective... who was discovered to have been the real culprit all along while Makoto and Yu played the role of lawyer and prosecutor respectively. It was a fun mock trial where all the members got to participate in some way. They all got to even keep a recorded tape for each of them, as Juniper wanted to make sure they all had a fun memory to keep from this experience. Throughout the day everyone was enjoying themselves. Soon it was evening once more as everyone was outside at the outdoor stage setup for a certain rock star prosecutor and for Mr. Wright's speech. Apollo, Athena, Ema, and Ms. Toriumi were together along with the students of Gekkoukan, Yasogami, and Themis Legal Academy as they were also outside.<p>

"So we all meet again," Klavier said as he met the two groups once more. Yosuke in particular gulped as he did give the man, food poisoning the day before.

"Prosecutor Gavin. Are you feeling better?" Juniper asked.

"I am. Though I think I'll have to be more... selective of the food I receive from now on," Klavier said with a bit of a glare, as he looked at Yosuke.

"Sorry about that. I really hope you don't hold it against me," Yosuke whimpered. Klavier just sighed but he soon smiled.

"Well things happen. You're lucky I'm a pretty easygoing guy. Anyway we should all be quiet, as Herr Wright is about to say his speech soon. You should all do well to listen as I'm sure he has some wise words to say as always," Klavier replied.

The whole area went silent as all the students from Gekkoukan, Yasogami, and Themis Legal Academy turned to face the legendary ace attorney, as he soon got up on the stage and onto a podium that had a mic. He held a smile, and soon sighed, preparing himself for his speech.

"Hello everyone. Whether you're from Themis Legal Academy or visiting, I hope you are all having a fun time today on this joyous occasion where we get to share the legal world with others, who may become part of it one day. I know it must be hard to stand strong sometimes considering what happened recently... but we have to always keep pressing on in life, if we want to be able to make something of ourselves. So whether or not you want to become a lawyer, prosecutor, judge, or any profession... never lose hope of your dreams and always try. Don't be afraid of failure, because it's a natural part of life. Embrace it and learn from it to help yourself to become stronger. Hopefully we can all embrace justice in our lives to help protect those in need and to find the truth. I wish the best for you all," Phoenix said as everyone began to clap wildly, from him as they were all inspired.

However Phoenix still had a calm smile upon his face as the crowd quieted down, as he still had one more thing to say.

"I have one more important thing to announce. I've thought long and hard about this... and I've came to a very special conclusion. After I resolve a very important matter for myself, for a friend, for the falsely accused, and for the legal world in general... I will begin the preparations necessary for me to become a professor here at Themis Legal Academy. It's time for me to pass on the torch to my two special proteges who I believe can follow in my footsteps. After all, the younger generation is our future, a generation I also wish to help guide towards a brighter future. Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your day to listen to my speech. I hope you enjoy Prosecutor Gavin's rendition of the Guitar's Serenade. Enjoy and have fun everyone!" and with that Phoenix left the stage wowing the crowd once more, as they all cheered his name.

"He's... going to pass the torch onto us at some point?" Athena whispered. Apollo nodded back as Athena had tears in her eyes.

"We'll do you proud Mr. Wright!" Athena whispered back happily.

"That was amazing Professor Wright!" Ema shouted, wanting to already calling him a professor at Themis Legal Academy, even if he wasn't one yet.

"What an inspiration," Ms. Toriumi said with tears in her eyes, as she wiped them.

Soon Klavier all got on stage and played a very calm soothing accoustic rendition of a famous music song, known as the Guitar's Serenade. As the quiet soothing melody played, the whole crowd had a sense of peace and tranquility lulled onto them. When Prosecutor Gavin finished, the crowd cheered for the cheerful prosecutor. Soon the festival ended and the night came to a close. The Investigation Team, along with SEES, Phoenix, Apollo, Ema, Athena and Ms. Toriumi were all together as they conversed before everyone headed back home. A certain student that they had met in the gym the other day was now there as she caught up on everything, due to Juniper and Myriam (back in her cardboard box) as the three Themis Legal Academy students had what appeared to be a camera and a stand for it.

"Hey guys!" Robin shouted, happy to see them all again. "Since today is your last day before we all go, why don't we take a photo for the memories. Should be C-O-O-L!"

Soon the huge group got into a group shot, as Robin set the camera before joining in. It was a happy memory (despite Yosuke and Junpei pulling up Myriam's box during the shot, resulting in them both getting punched by the box loving girl right after) as everyone received their own photos of the picture.

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><p>We reconvene the next morning at the entrance of Gatewater Hotel as Ms. Toriumi was waiting outside for the replacement chaperone for Yasogami High's students. She had both groups ordered outside as the bus for Gekkoukan was already there, as the other chaperone was suppose to arrive from the bus taking the Yasogami High students, as they were all heading to the airport to take a plane back to Japan.<p>

"Where is she? She should be here?" Ms. Toriumi said as she waited. However a large van soon showed up carrying some familiar individuals. Phoenix, Apollo, Athena, Ema, Juniper, Robin, and Myriam (who was not wearing her box at the moment). "Are you all seeing us off?"

"Yes. It was a pleasure to meet you all. I wish you all a safe trip," Phoenix said calmly as he shook hands with the high school teacher. He then went to the members of SEES and the Investigation Team and gave them all a hand shake as well.

"Be safe guys! Also thanks again for the payment. Always good to have some spending money," Apollo mused comically as he shook all their hands.

"Back to the boring school life huh? Well maybe we'll meet again one day," Athena said happily as she shook their hands as well.

"Do well at school guys. Especially science if you can," Ema encouraged as she gave them all a friendly hand shake as well.

"Remember to communicate over the phone and internet whenever you can!" Juniper said, as she gave them all a big friendly hug.

"Remember to always keep **ROCKING ON**!" Robin yelled as she also gave a hug, though it was more firm in comparison.

"You guys better appreciate next month's issue of our academy's newspapers starring you guys, besides mister red lawyer. I'm mailing you each a copy overseas to all of you," Myriam, said as she gave a hug to them all as well.

The members of SEES and the Investigation Team all nodded back as they were happy yet really sad. Not only would they lose contact with those they met at Themis Legal Academy, they would lose direct contact with each other as well.

"Well I'm glad to have met you all guys," Junpei stated. "It was fun catching the bad guy like this."

"It was a great experience overall in the world of legal matters," Yukari said to the others.

"We'll never forget about each other. We'll always be friends!" Fuuka said with happiness and tears present in her eyes.

"This was truly a memory I won't forget anytime soon," Mitsuru stated seriously but a bit solemnly as well with a smirk.

"Thank to everyone. I don't know what I do without Shinji," Akihiko said very thankful.

"Heh. Well you got that right. But seriously... thanks," Shinjiro said playfully.

"It was a crazy experience. Like something out of a movie. Definitely won't be forgetting this anytime soon." Chie said enthusiastically.

"It was fun. I can't believe the criminal liked me that way. Guess I'm a really good witness," Yukiko joked as she laughed.

"Don't mind Yukiko's laughter. But yeah it was a blast to meet you all. Hopefully next time no food poisoning needs to get involved," Yosuke said embarrassed.

"I'm so glad to have met you all. When I get back into being an idol, I'm definitely writing a song about my time here!" Rise said with joy.

"It was interesting to put my skills to the test with all of you. Definitely glad to have solved a crime and to have made friendships I'll cherish," Naoto stated calmly.

"I'm so glad you guys all were here or else I be in jail right now. Thanks so much!" Kanji said with so much happiness.

The sound of an approaching bus soon approached the area. Both Yu and Makoto looked at each other simply and nodded. They shook hands with each other. Soon SEES, the Investigation Team, and Mr. Wright's group all got into a big group hug. Ms. Toriumi smiled for them while the other Gekkoukan and Yasogami High students had mixed reactions, since it was getting a bit cheesy for some. The bus finally arrived as a female teacher emerged from it.

"Are you Ms. Kashiwagi?" Ms. Toriumi asked. A brunette haired woman wore a pinkish purple office shirt that was a bit revealing, black office pants, a translation earpiece, two necklaces and black heels, smiled and nodded back.

"Yes. I am here to take the Yasogami High students. I'm also replacing Mr. Morooka so whoever had him for homeroom, now has me," she replied. Yu, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko looked each other with concerned eyes, as for some reason, they had a bad feeling about this. "Well I suppose it's time we all head on home back to Japan. Though I just got here. Oh well,"

Soon the students from both schools boarded their respective buses got on board and soon the buses slowly but surely started to leave. Mr. Wright and the others waved as both SEES and the Investigation Team sat at the back of their buses to wave back. Soon they were gone. But who knows? Maybe one day they would all be reunited for whatever reason possibly. For now, this tale is done, as life goes on for everyone.

**THE END**

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><p><strong>So that's it guys! What did you think of the ending, or any part, or the story overall? I hope you guys enjoyed this crossover between the Persona and Ace Attorney series. Couple of very important notes.<strong>

**1. So... I'm considering a sequel to this story. Maybe or maybe not. But if I do make a sequel, it won't be anytime soon and it'll be different from what's expected. What does that mean? Well we'll see if I even go through with a sequel, so that is something to not think about for a while.  
><strong>

**2. I will continue to make stories for both series, crossover or not (as they are both series I enjoy and all). Though keep in mind, I have stories in mind for other series besides Persona and Ace Attorney as well.**

**3. So what should be my last important note... what's next exactly? Well I'll say this. It's going to be another crossover and it'll involve the Persona series but not Ace Attorney. What's it crossing over with? You guys are just going to have to wait and find out.**

**So yeah, that about wraps it up. Have anything to say, go for it. Otherwise good luck with anything and till the next story. Later!**


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